By Locksley's Grace
by Silver Wolf1
Summary: While taking a prisoner to Tundratown, the climate wall malfuctions and causes a massive blizzard. Now is up to Officer Nick Wilde to go rescue a young kit before it's to late. Story does have sad spots in it, but going to try and stay as light as I can with a touch of Romance thrown in for fun.
1. Chapter One: The Climate Wall

As always, the characters and places in this fanfic aren't mine. They belong to Disney. I'm using them in this fanfic because I fell in love with Zootopia after watching it. The idea for this story popped into my head a few days later. Going to try and get some of the characters as close as I can to what was shown in the movie. Sorry if that doesn't happen. If that happens, great; if not, I don't care.

Anyway, I hope you like the story. Email any and all comments (even burns) to Silver_Wolf1_99

By Locksley's Grace

By Silver Wolf1

Chapter One:

The Climate Wall...

There weren't many times that Nick Wilde regretted becoming a police officer. If he did, it was usually for a good reason; mostly involving his partner. But when you have a bunny as your partner, you start to question your own sanity at times. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times; for he was in a race against the clock to save a life. And time was running out fast.

The day had started like any other for the fox. Wake up, get ready for work, and deal with desk duty until Judy returned from vacation at her parents. It original had been just a few days off to go to a wedding for a friend until Chief Buffalo Butt, as Nick had a habit of calling the commanding officer, extended it by two weeks. Normally it wouldn't be that bad, but things didn't go as planned when he was asked to make a run to the Tundratown station to drop off a prisoner. It had been a routine run until he pulled into the underground parking area of the precinct, for that was when the call came in.

A section of the climate wall had malfunctioned and was now creating blizzard like conditions. What made it worse was that a massive car pill up happened as a result. Rescue crews had to work in the storm in order to save the lives of those injured. While Nick was secretly glad about not having to be in that weather, his heart sank when he heard a report come in over the radio.

One of the animals involved in the wreck was on her way to pick up her daughter from dance class. _'That's not good,´_ he thought listening in. His heart sank even further when he heard that the girl would've have been sitting on the steps outside the dance studio a few minutes before the storm hit.

"Where's that dance studio located?" Nick asked walking over. A large caribou looked at the fox saying, "It's a block behind the police station, why?"

Without saying a word to anyone, he took off to the supple closet and started to pull on some of the thermal gear.

"What do you think you're doing, Wilde?" the station's chief, a large polar bear, asked.

"There's a young kit waiting for her mother at the dance studio behind the station," Nick said zipping the jacket up.

The bear reached over and put about four dozen road flares and a blanket inside a backpack before handing it over saying,

"The door next to my office will take you to the back of the station. As soon as you leave; light one of those flares, stick it in the snow, then go five feet before lighting another."

"Yes sir," Nick said pulling the backpack on. He followed the chief to the door in question as he pulled on a pair of goggles.

"As soon as you find her, wrap her in the blanket and keep her warm as you head for the hospital," the bear said before opening the door, "It's four blocks to the left of the studio; just on the edge of the storm." After giving the bear a quick thumbs up, the fox stepped into the storm.

Progress in the storm was slow due to poor visibility, but that didn't stop him. As instructed, ever five steps he was lighting a road flare and sticking it in the snow. He wasn't sure how long he had been walking when he heard a cracking in his ear.

"Office Wilde, this is Chief Clawson back at the station," the bear's voice came in via the hood, "The coat you have has a built in radio in the hood in case of emergencies like this. Have you reached the studio yet?"

"Not yet, sir, visibility sucks," Nick said planting another road flare, "I take it there was a reason you had me take the road flares."

"Hounsel and Gretel," the chief replied calmly.

"Makes sense to me," Nick said looking forward.

"Not trying to make you panic, but it's been half an hour since the storm started and the temperature is already in the negative," the chief stated.

"I understand, and I can see the studio," Nick said lighting another flare.

"Do you see the kit?" the chief asked sounding worried.

The fox smiled a little before saying, "I'll to you one better, I see what looks like a small fire next to the steps."

He picked up his pace and as the chief asked, "Hopefully it's her and she's using the steps to block the wind."

 _'Let's hope so,'_ Nick thought. As he drew closer, he was relieved to find the girl huddle close to the fire trying to stay warm.

"You ok, little one?" he yelled over the wind. The girl slowly looked up whimpered slightly as her body shook from the cold. He knelt next to her and pulled his backpack off as he said, "I'm Officer Wilde with the ZPD. Let's get you somewhere warm."

The girl nodded as he flipped the blanket around her as she stammered, "I'm cold."

"Don't worry, I'll get you somewhere warm," he said before pulling the pack on, "Chief Clawson, I've got her."

"Good, now get her to a hospital," the bear replied.

"Yes sir," Nick said before turning his attention to the young kit, "I'm going to need you to trust me, ok?"

She nodded pulled the blanket tight around her. Making sure to keep behind the steps, he slowly opened his jacket and picked her up saying, "I'm putting you inside my coat so you can stay warm."

Once she was secure, he knocked some snow on the fire before heading left. _'Twenty minutes,'_ he thought as he continued to light flares ever five feet, _'She was sitting there for at least twenty minutes. Please be ok.'_ Travel seemed to be going a lot faster as he walked away from the wind. By the time he had reached the hospital, the winds had died down tremendously. Without a moment to spare, he quickly stepped into the ER and walked up to the desk.

"Can I help you?" a arctic fox asked.

He reached up and shoved his hood back before opening his jacket saying, "I'm Officer Nick Wilde with the ZPD I found a kit huddled next to some stone steps out in that storm."

The arctic fox quickly called for a gurney before walking over and asking, "How long was she in the storm?"

"A little over twenty minutes, but she was sitting next to a small fire," he said handing the girl over, "Is she going to be ok?"

"We'll get her checked out then let you know," the fox said as two orderlies came running up with a gurney.

Once the girl was taken in the back, the nurse looked at Nick and asked, "Do you know where her parents are?"

"Her mother was involved in that pile up that happened," he said looking towards the door.

"I think I know the one you're talking about," the nurse said sounding a little sad, "An arctic fox was brought in about ten minutes ago asking about a little girl. We don't think she's going to make it."

He was silent for a moment before saying, "Keep me posted on the two. I have to call the station."

He walked into the waiting room and sat down before pulling his cell out. "This is not good," he muttered as he called the Tundratown police chief.

"Clawson here," the polar bear's voice said over the phone.

"It's Office Wilde, I'm at the hospital with the kit," Nick said looking at the floor.

"Is she ok?" Clawson asked.

"They just took the girl into the back a few seconds ago," Nick replied closing his eyes, "Her mother had arrived ten minutes before we got here. The staff doesn't think she's going to make it."

The line was silent for a few seconds before the chief calmly said, "Keep us posted. And good job, Officer."

"I will and thank you sir," Nick said before hanging up. He went to put his phone away when it started ringing.

"Officer Wilde," he said answering it.

"Where are you?" Chief Bogo said sounding a little upset.

"Tundratown Hospital, all roads leading to Savana Square have been closed due to a blizzard," Nick said leaning back in his chair.

"Are you ok?" Bogo asked.

"Not sure, sir," Nick said before relaying the events of the past hour.

Once he had finished, the line was silent for a few minutes before Bogo calmly said, "I want you to report back to Precinct One once the roads are clear. Then I'm placing you on a two week leave, understand?"

"Yes sir," Nick said quietly.

"She'll be ok, Wilde," Bogo said sympathetically, "Do you know the name of her mother?"

"Not yet," Nick replied looking towards the ER doors to see the fox from earlier walking towards him, "I'll call you back."

He ended the call and stood up before asking, "Is she ok?"

"She's going to be fine, but her mother would like to talk to you," the nurse said solemnly, "Follow me please."


	2. Chapter Two: A Mother's Wish

Chapter Two:

A Mother's Wish...

Nick knocked lightly on the door to one of the rooms before stepping inside. His eyes took note of the different machines in the room before settling on the room's occupants, a snow white fox lying on the bed and a white tiger standing next to it looking at him.

"I take it you are the one that saved my little girl's life," she said sounding a little weak.

"Yes ma'am," he said walking over to the bed, "I'm Officer Wilde form the ZPD. Precinct One."

"I'm Laura Locksley and the tiger is my lawyer, Daniel Anderson," the hare said smiling a little, "Thank you for saving my daughter."

"It's all part of the job, Ms. Locksley," he said returning the smile.

"Laura, please," she said before coughing slightly, "I hate to ask you this Officer, but could you do me one favor."

He pulled a stool over and sat next to the bed asking, "What do you need?"

She gently placed a paw on his before saying, "The doctors say I won't make it through the night because of my injuries. I know this is a lot to ask, but I need to know that my daughter will be taken care of."

"Ms. Locksley, I think I know what you want me to do," Nick said watching her, "And I promise to watch over her."

"That's not what I'm asking," she said as a tears started to form, "I want you to raise her like she was your own."

"Why me?" he asked surprised.

"Daniel will explain it better," she said as a tear slid down her cheek, "Just promise me you will raise her."

Nick was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Just so you know, it will not be just me raising her. It will be the entire PD and my partner as well."

"I don't care, just tell that me you'll do it," she said.

"I promise I will take care of her like she was my own," he stated.

She smiled before saying, "Thank you. Now if you don't mind, I would like to see my daughter before it's too late."

"Yes ma'am," Nick said before getting up.

He followed Ms. Locksley's lawyer into the hall before asking, "Why did she ask me to do that?"

"Ms. Locksley has no family left and her late husband's family wants nothing to do with either of them," Daniel answered.

"Why was that?" Nick asked.

Daniel pointed down the hall as he saw his clients daughter walking towards the room and said, "Laura's daughter, Grace, is a hybrid. Her father was a brown bunny."

"Whereas Laura was an artic fox," Nick said watching the young kit. It was the first time he had really gotten a good look at the kit. Her fur was light tan color with darker fur around her paws and the tips of her ears. As she went to go into the room; he noticed that her tail and ears where that of a fox while her head and body was more like a bunnies.

"So because she's a hybrid, she basically will have no family once her mom passes," he said quietly.

"Unfortunately, yes," Daniel said sitting in a nearby chair, "Which is why Ms. Locksley asked you to take care of Grace. A provision has been written into her will should something like this happen, so don't worry about having enough money to take care of her."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Nick said leaning against a wall, "I'm going to have to explain this to my chief when I get back."

"I will inform your boss as to what all has happened here," Daniel said placing his brief case on his lap and opening it, "I do suggest that you take her with you and explain what all is going on."

"Good idea," Nick said before looking at the case, "What are you doing?"

"There are some paper's you need to sigh that Laura had filled out prior to you entering the room," Daniel said after removing a small file, "This will transfer guardian ship to you and make you Laura's legal guardian until she is eighteen."

Once the last of the forms were signed, the two sat there in silence. After what felt like forever, Nick pulled his phone out to check the time when Grace walked up and said, "Hey Daniel."

The tiger looked down at the kit and tried not to cry as he said, "I know, Gracie, I know."

He gently pulled her into a hug and held her as she started to cry. As Nick sat there watching the girl, his mind started to wonder if he would react the same why if he lost someone that important.

He didn't have long to dwell on that though when the kit looked at him and asked, "Are you the one that saved me?"

He nodded before saying, "Yeah, I am. Officer Nicholas Wilde ZPD."

She let go of the tiger before saying, "My mom said you're going to be taking care of me."

Nick knelt in front of her and smiled saying, "I promised your mom that I would. Is that ok?"

She slowly nodded before saying, "Thank you for saving me, Mr. Wilde."

"Call me Nick," he said.

"Ok Nick," she said sniffling, "I'm Grace Marion Locksley."

"As nice as it is to meet you, I wish it was under better circumstances," he said before his phone started ringing.

"Is that your boss?" she asked as he checked the number.

"One of," he said before answering it, "Officer Wilde here."

"It's Clawson," the polar bear replied, "Any news?"

Nick was silent for a few seconds before Daniel held his hand out and whispered, "Allow me."

The tiger got to his feet after being handed the phone and walked down the hall.

"So what happens now?" Grace asked.

"Well, that will depend on a few different things," Nick said before moving back to the chair, "You may have to transfer schools depending on how old you are."

"Mom had me homeschooled," she said sitting in the chair next to him.

"Well, you may end up having to go to actual school," he said looking at her.

"Mom said most schools wouldn't want a hybrid in their classes," she said quietly.

"Depends on the teacher," he said as Daniel walked up.

"I informed Clawson as to what's happened," the tiger said handing the phone back, "He said he's sorry to hear about what happened and one of the tunnels to Sahara Square has been cleared out if you want to go home. I also ran into Grace's doctor."

"What did he have to say?" Nick asked.

"Any longer in that storm and she may not have made it," Daniel said sitting in an empty chair, "Granted there is some debate as to how you got her here."

"Nick put me inside his coat and carried me here," Grace said looking at the tiger, "It kept me warm."

"Smart thinking officer," Daniel said before they heard a phone start ringing.

"Thanks," Nick said checking to see who was calling, "And I have to take this one."

He hit the answer button before saying, "Hey Chief."

"Have you found out anything?" Bogo asked.

"One of the roads have been cleared out so I can head back tonight depending on how snowed in Precinct Three is," he replied leaning back in his chair, "And I found out the name of the girl's mother. It's Laura Locksley."

The line was silent for a few minutes before Bogo said, "Wilde, I want you to go check into a hotel for the night then let me know which one. I'll have one of the units pick you up in the morning."

"Sir, is everything ok?" Nick asked a little worried.

"I'll explain later," Bogo replied, "Just do as I say and make sure to bring the receipt with you if you want reimbursed."

"Uh, ok. I'll call you once I get settled," Nick said before the call ended.

"That was weird," he said looking at his phone.

"What was weird?" Grace asked.

"I just got told to go check into a hotel for the night and the PD would reimburse me tomorrow," he said putting his phone away.

"I know a hotel that gives cops a discount that's not far from here and away from the storm," Daniel said.

"Wouldn't it be easier to go back to my place?" she asked looking at him.

"She does have a point, and you really can't leave Tundratown until I get the judge's approval to what you signed, Officer," he said.

"How long is that going to take?" Nick asked.

"Including time there and back, ten minutes," Daniel said looking towards the clock, "The courthouse isn't far from here and her father's side of her family works in the accounting firm next to it. We could literally file the paper work and stop there long enough to do a quick reading of Laura's will before I take you two back to Grace's."

"Only if Nick's there," Grace said taking the fox's paw in hers.

"Let's get you checked out first then go do everything else," Nick said standing up.

"Ok Nick," she said hopping down from the chair.


	3. Chapter Three: A Storm Called Karma

Chapter Three:

A Storm Called Karma...

The blizzard had died down tremendously by the time the three left the hospital. After stopping at the courthouse long enough to finalize the paperwork, they walked over to a tall building next door.

As they went to enter, Daniel looked over at Nick and said, "Call the precinct and see if they can spare an officer. We're going to need it."

"Don't bother calling," Chief Clawson said walking up, "I thought you might be heading here after leaving the courthouse."

"Hi Uncle Mike," Grace said giving the polar bear a slight wave.

"Hey Gracie," he said knelling down and giving her a gentle hug, "I'm sorry about what happened to your mom. I wish we could've gotten there sooner."

She returned the hug saying, "Its ok. She's with dad now, and Nick said he would take care of me."

"He better," he said looking towards the fox.

"I promised her mom I would," Nick said before holding the door open, "Shall we?" They quickly stepped inside and walked up to the front desk.

As they got closer, a ferret looked up and smiled saying, "Good day gentlemen. How can I…What is she doing here?"

"She's with me," Nick said taking Grace's paw in his.

"And they're with me," Chief Clawson said stepping in front of the two, "You have a problem with that, Eric?"

"Don't bother answering that," Daniel said picking up the phone behind the desk and dialing a number, "You know who this is, Victoria. We need to talk now."

Nick leaned over slightly and whispered, "I take it this has happened before."

The young kit nodded before Chief Clawson looked at the two and said, "Laura owned the building while Grace's father owned the firm that works here. After he passed, his sister Victoria took over the company as the acting head."

"I see. Then who owns the company?" Nick asked.

"I think we're about to find out," Clawson said turning his gaze back to the ferret.

They didn't have long to wait before a hare with white fur came walking up and asked, "Now what does she want, Daniel? And why is that abomination here?"

"Grace is here with me," Daniel said calmly looking at the hare, "As for why am I here, it's to read Laura's will."

"You mean that tramp finally did something right?" Victoria asked with a laugh.

Clawson placed a hand on Nick's shoulder as he leaned down and whispered, "Do not react to anything she says. For I think Karma is about to pay her a visit." Nick smiled slightly as him and the others followed Daniel to one of the meeting rooms.

"Can we make this quick? I have an important meeting to get to in a few minutes," Victoria said taking a seat.

"This won't take long," Daniel said sitting at the end of the table, "For Laura only named two people in her will. You being one of them and the other being Grace's guardian." Once everyone was seated, the tiger opened his briefcase and took out a small stack of papers.

"Are we ready?" he asked looking at each person before he started reading, "I, Laura Amber Locksley, being of sound mind and body here by bequeath the following. To my late husband's sister, Victoria; ever since we first met, you have down everything in your power to turn your family against me. You constantly refused to acknowledge your own niece, instead calling her an abomination constantly to her face whenever you saw or talked about her. While I do appreciate you taking over Gregg's accounting firm after he passed, the final joke is on you. For you see, prior to his passing he sold it to me for a dollar."

"What?" Victoria asked shocked.

"Daniel has documents showing the sale of the company and had filed them three days before Gregg passed," the tiger continued to read aloud, "But more importantly, the ownership of the firm and the building it currently works out of has been granted to my daughter's guardian. If you wish to take full ownership, then you will have to buy them from said mammal."

"This is an outrage!" Victoria yelled slamming her paws on the table as she stood up, "How dare she do this to me?"

"Oh I believe it," Nick said smiling.

"Shut it fox, or I will have you thrown out of here," Victoria said glaring at him.

"You so much as try to touch me, and you will wish you hadn't," Nick said looking at her with a smug look on his face, "Now let me see if I understand what is going on: an intelligent arctic hare takes over running an accounting firm after her brothers passing. Not wanting to deal with what she considering to being the biggest mistake of his life, she cuts all ties with his now widow and her niece whom she thinks never should've been born.

"Only to find out that, whoopsie, her brother had sold ownership of the company to his late wife, who just so happened to own the building the firm was in. Now while she turns the company into a success, she doesn't bother trying to find out who owns the company, double whoopsie. And whoopies number three, she decides to threaten not only an officer of the law, but the guardian of a niece she calls an abomination and the new owner of the company and building she works in. But why stop at three, let's see how much farther we can go.

"Just going off of how the woman reacted; not only did she cuts all ties to the family her brother had, I believe it's a safe bet that she also never bothered to help her now deceased sister in-law and has keep all the profits for herself, four whoopies. Now depending on how long she has been doing this, means a massive headache for the ZPD because that is embezzlement; ten years jail time. Now give me a reason Chief Clawson and I shouldn't run you in right now?"

"Actually, she doesn't have too," Daniel said looking over at the fox, "The will states that if Victoria wants the company, she is to hand over the profits that was supposed to be given to Laura from the time her husband passed to now plus one dollar. The building itself though is up to you, Nick. Shall we continue?"

"By all means," Nick said once Victoria had sat back down.

The tiger was silent for a few seconds before saying, "To my daughter, Grace; if you are hearing Daniel read this, then that means I am no longer with you. For that; I am truly sorry and hope that one day you will forgive me. I wished I could have been there in person to watch you grow and see the young mammal that you would become.

"You will always have my love and I hope you have a bright future. To you, I leave three properties and the large portion of the fortune I have amassed over the years. I have giving instructions to Daniel as to how you and your guardian can access it if needed. I hope you are able to achieve your dreams and are happy. Last but not least, to my longtime friend and confidant Daniel Anderson. I am sorry to leave you like this old friend, but please understand I am in a better place.

"While I leave to you my law practice, I have two final requests for you. The first being that you handle my final expenses for I do not wish my daughter to have to deal with this burden; and lastly, if Victoria agrees to buy the company and building from my daughter's guardian, use the money from the sale to pay off any taxes and divide the remainder between the different precincts of the ZPD and donate it to them." The room was silent as Daniel placed the will back in his briefcase.

"What did my mom mean by the sale of the building?" Grace asked.

"What she means is that your guardian, Officer Wilde, now owns the company that your father started and this building," Daniel replied looking at the young girl, "Should he sell them, any and all inheritance taxes will be paid out of that before the rest is donated to the ZPD. Now, I believe there are some questions that need to be asked. The first being to Victoria, do you wish to buy the company and building?"

"Yes, I do," the arctic fox said not sounding to happy, "My lawyers will have an offer ready for you by tomorrow."

"Which will not be accepted," Nick said looking at the fox, "The money you never paid to Grace's mother plus one dollar, or else."

"Or else what?" she said glaring at him.

"Ten years jail time for embezzlement," Clawson said crossing his arms, "And that is just for the company."

"As for the building, I think I know someone that would be willing to pay more than you can," Nick said smiling.

"This is extortion," Victoria said.

"No, it's called a hustle, sweetheart," he said with a slight smile, "What you choose to do is up to you."

Victoria was silent for a few minutes before saying, "Fine. How much do I have to pay?"

"According to the records, you have run this company for the past eight years," Daniel said taking a piece of paper out of his briefcase, "During that time, this company amassed two million, eight hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine dollars in profits that would have been given to the owner. Grand total would be two point nine million dollars, not including what you are going to have to pay in order to get the building."

"That's not including the fines you were ordered to pay for the false harassment and stalking charges you filed against Laura," Clawson said glaring at her.

"I will have the check written out by tomorrow," she said standing up.

"No. You have one hour, or you will be placed under arrest for not paying your fines," Clawson said.

"I can't start the paper work to transfer the company until the payment is received," Daniel said putting the papers away, "Once it's paid, then we can leave."

"I'll go get my check book," she said before leaving the room.

"I'll go with her," Clawson said before following her.

They returned a few minutes later as Victoria said, "Here's your money. Now take that abomination and leave."

"Hsss, yeah you shouldn't have said that," Nick said.

"And the hell not?" she demanded.

"Because this isn't your building yet," he said getting up, "All you did was buy the company you stole. And with that little outburst just now, it is going to cost you more than that what you just paid to get me to stop being your landlord. Let's go, Grace."


	4. Chapter Four: Night Calls

Chapter Four:

Night Calls...

A large part of Tundratown had been shut down due to the storm. It was because of this Nick ended up having to spend the night away from home, not that he didn't mind. Yet as he sat in the kitchen of Grace's home replaying the events of the day, he began to wonder if this wasn't some sort of sign. He didn't have long with those thoughts as he heard a light noise from the other room.

"I take it you couldn't sleep either, Grace," he asked.

"H-how did you know it was me?" she asked.

His ears twitched a little before saying, "Loose floor board."

He looked over at the young girl and smiled gently before asking, "Is something wrong?"

She walked over to the table saying, "I miss my mom."

"I have a feeling that a lot of people that knew your mother miss her too," he said before looking towards a window.

"Have you ever lost someone you loved?" she asked looking at him.

"Not yet," he said after a few seconds, "I think that is part of the reason why a lot of mammals join the police force. So they can protect those they care about if they need to."

They were quiet for a few seconds before she asked, "What's going to happen to me?"

"Well, according to the paperwork that Daniel turned in, you're going to be staying with me," he said looking at her, "I think I may have to get a bigger place, but I promised your mother that I would take care of you and that is what I'm going to do."

"Couldn't we just live here?" she asked.

"We could; but I work one Precinct One, and that is at City Center," he replied.

"My mom had a place there we went to a few times for vacations," she said almost sounding excited, "Do you think we could stay there?"

"Believe it or not, that was one of the places your mother left you," he said smiling.

"I liked that place," she said smiling, "It had a great view of the park."

"I'll give Daniel a call in the morning to let him know that is where we're going," he said with a nod, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what did your mother do for a living?"

"She was a lawyer with Daniel," she said before yawning slightly, "They would help the police put away the bad guys."

"Well that explains how you know Chief Clawson," he said with a slight laugh, "But I think it's time for kits to be in bed. We've got a long day tomorrow."

"Ok. Night Nick," she said before heading towards the hall. She stopped at the doorway and looked at him before asking, "Hey Nick, have you ever met Judy Hopps?"

He tried not to laugh as he asked, "Are you a fan?"

Grace nodded saying, "I think she's cool."

"Well, I guess I'll have to tell her that when she gets back from her vacation," he said smiling, "I mean she is my partner after all."

"Really?" she asked excited.

"I'll introduce you to her once she gets back from her vacation," he said holding a finger up, "But only if you get to bed."

"OK, night Nick," she said before running from the room. He sat there in silence for a few seconds before pulling his phone out. _'Now's a good time as any,'_ he thought dialing a number.

The phone rang twice before he heard a familiar voice say, "Officer Hopps."

He smiled a little before saying, "No offense Carrots, but I think you're starting on me."

"Hey Slick, what makes you say that?" Judy asked with a laugh.

"Because of what happened in Tundratown today," he said.

"What happened?" she asked a little puzzled.

"About thirty car pileup due to a blizzard," he said looking down at the table, "I'm surprised you hadn't called me about it yet. It's been all over the news."

She let out a smile gasp before saying, "I-I haven't seen the news today. What happened?" For the next few minutes he sat there and relayed the events of the day, stopping only to answer a quick question from his partner. He had just gotten to the part about Grace when he heard someone calling his partner over the phone.

"Just a sec, Nick," she said.

He heard a muffled conversation be she said clearly, "My parents just kicked the news on. They're talking about what happened now."

"What do you want to bet they won't say a word about me?" he asked.

"Actually, they're saying something about you right now," she stated with a nervous laugh, "I see why you said I was rubbing off on you. Is she ok?"

"She's asleep in her room," he said a little solemnly, "And apparently, she's a fan of yours."

"Oh that's c…ool. Nick is something wrong?" she asked a little worried.

He was silent for a few minutes before quietly saying, "What all did the news say about me?"

"That you braved the storm to save a stranded kit," she replied a little puzzled.

"Her mother was the one that died in that crash," he said letting out a shaky breathe, "Before she passed, she asked me to take care of her kit like she was my own."

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I said that I would," he replied leaning back in the chair.

"Ok, why did you do that?" she asked.

"Her husband died before she gave birth, the only family Grace had was on her father's side and they thought she was an abomination," he said rubbing the back of his head.

"And it was that or an orphanage, if not the streets," Judy said finishing his thought, "So, when's her mother's funeral?"

"We'll find out tomorrow before we head back to City Center," he answered, "And I may be going on vacation for two weeks starting tomorrow."

"You're welcome to come here," she said sounding a little hopeful.

"Why do you want me to come to your parents place so bad?" he asked with a slight laugh.

"My sister's fiancé thinks he is a hustler," she said sighing.

"And you want me to come put him in his place," he said as he started to smile, "I don't know Carrots. It might not be a good idea for me to do that with your parents around."

"Nicholas, this Bonnie, Judy's mother," a different voice said on the phone, "Out hustle my soon to be son in-law and there will be a blueberry cobbler in your future."

"In that case, I will be there as soon as I can Mrs. Hopps," he said smiling.

"Call me Bonnie. Here's Judy," she said handing the phone back.

"I guess I can add 'hustler for hire' to my resume," he said with a slight laugh.

"And thanks for agreeing to come," Judy said sounding smug.

"Sly bunny," he said.

"Dumb fox. So how long before you can get here?" she asked.

"Maybe three days, if that," he said before looking over at the clock, "And I need to get to bed."

"Ok, let me know when you're heading here," she said.

"Alright, night Carrots," he said before hanging up. He put his phone away and sat there for a few seconds before getting up and checking the front door. After making sure it was locked, he noticed there was a letter on the floor.

"What's this?" he asked picking it up. He opened it and growled as he recognized the handwriting. _'I don't believe him,'_ he thought pulling his phone out. He quickly dialed a number as he walked back out into the kitchen.

"Daniel Anderson," he heard a voice answer.

"It's Nick," the fox said leaning against a counter, "I just found a letter shoved under the door saying Grace is my daughter."

"It's the only way the judge would allow her to go to you so fast," the tiger replied, "Trust me; I was as surprised as you are when I heard about this."

"Ok, mind telling me why he did that?" Nick asked.

"Two reasons. The first being that if she is your legal daughter, than no one with Victoria's attitude can go after her," Daniel stated.

"Speciesest jerk," Nick spat in disgust, "What was number two?"

"If the fox can work with the first bunny cop and best Bellwether, raising a kit should be a piece of cake him," Daniel said with a slight laugh, "Judge's words, not mine."

"Well he does have a point," Nick said before his phone beep, "Sorry Daniel, but I have an incoming call. I'll call you later."


	5. Chapter Five: Precinct One

Chapter Five:

Precinct One...

Tundratown's main road had been shut down thanks to the storm. It wasn't until the next morning that Roads crews were just starting to get the wrecked vehicles now that the malfunctioned section of the climate wall had been disabled. But while a full investigation had been ordered by the chief of Precinct Three, Nick's mind was from police work. So far his morning had been far from normal. He had awoken at 5:30 and started to get ready for work, but stopped as he remembered what had happened the day before.

After making a few phone calls, he woke Grace up for breakfast. By the time they were done eating, two of the officer had dropped off his squad car so they could get going.

"Hey Grace; mind if I ask you a question?" Nick asked once the officers had left.

"Only if you answer one of mine," the young kit replied looking at him.

"Deal," he said sitting on a couch, "I have to stop by Precinct One once we get back to City Center. I was wondering if you wanted to tag along and meet some of the mammals I work with."

"Um, that was what I wanted to ask you," Grace said a little nervously, "I, kind of, don't want to be alone right now."

"Sure thing, Grace," he said smiling, "I do have to warn you though, I work with some strange individuals."

"Can't be as bad as some of the ones Uncle Mike works with," she said smiling a little.

"You haven't met Clawhauser," he said getting to his feet, "Know how about we go get some pack some of your stuff then we get going?"

"Ok, but who's Clawhauser?" she asked following him upstairs.

Nick laughed a little before he started telling her about the cheetah. It wasn't before the two were on the road to City Center. All during the trip, Nick told the young kit different stories about his partner. She listened intently with each story until they finally reached the station.

"Still think she's cool?" he asked parking the cruiser in the precinct garage.

She nodded excitedly saying, "She is so awesome."

"Don't ever tell her, but I think so too," he said before the got out.

"So who do you have to talk to here?" she asked as grabbed her bags from the trunk.

"My boss to let him know what all happened yesterday, and possibly Clawhauser for a favor," he said as they walked to the elevator.

"Have him watch me while you talk to the chief?" she asked hitting the call button for him.

He sighed softly before looking at her and said, "Sorry Grace, but it's for police business." They looked at the elevator doors as they opened to find a buffalo standing there.

"Hey Chief," Nick said setting one of the bags down and saluting his superior officer, "Did you miss me?"

"Shut it, Wilde," Chief Bogo said before turning his gaze to the young kit, "Ms. Locksley, I'm Chief Bogo. On the behalf of Precinct One, we are sorry for your lose."

"Thank you," she said shyly, "Did you know my mom?"

"I met her a few times," he said as the two stepped into the elevator car.

"Am I going to have to wait with Clawhauser while you talk to Nick?" she asked as Bogo hit the button for the main lobby.

"Just so he can fill me in on what happened yesterday," the buffalo replied looking down at her, "If you'd like, I can have one of the officers show you around while the two of us talk."

"No thank you," she said as they heard a ding. The young kits eyes widened as the doors opened to the main lobby.

"And welcome to Precinct One," Nick said as the three stepped off the elevator.

"Whoa," she breathed in awe.

"Sure you don't want that tour?" he asked looking at her.

"After you fill me in about yesterday," Bogo said before heading towards the stairs, "My office, Wilde. Ten minutes."

"Got it chief," Nick said before looking down at Grace, "Come on, I'll introduce you to Ben."

"Uh-huh," she said looking around. They walked towards the front desk were a cheetah was sitting munching on a donut.

"Do we have to talk to him?" she whispered taking the fox's hand.

Nick stopped walking as he looked at her and said, "Ben's a big softy, don't worry." She let out a soft whimper as she shifted her watched the cheetah.

"No one's going to hurt you," he said kneeling next to her.

"Are you sure I can't stay with you?" she asked looking at him.

"I would, but there are somethings I need to talk to my boss about in private," he said.

"You'll come back when you're done right?" she asked nervously.

"As soon as I'm done, I promise," he said smiling.

"You better," she said looking towards the front desk.

"I will, now come one," he said standing up, "I think you might like him." Her ears flattened against her head as she followed him nervously.

"Hey Nick. Welcome back," the cheetah said spotting the fox, "How was your trip?"

"Interesting to say the least," Nick replied with a nod, "Hey Spots, can you do me a favor?"

"I don't know, Nick," Clawhauser said a little leery.

"It's nothing that will get you in trouble, I promise," the fox said holding his paws up, "I just need you to watch a friend while I talk to Bogo."

"Oh sure thing Nick," the cheetah said smiling, "Is that your friend? Oh. Em. Goodness. Well aren't you the sweetest thing?"

"Careful with her Benny," a lion said leaning on the counter, "You don't want to tick her off."

"Hi Delgato," she said smiling up at him.

"Hey Grace, what are you doing here?" the lion asked looking at her.

"I'll explain later," Nick said looking at his fellow officer, "But seriously, can one of you two keep her company while I go talk to the chief?"

"I'll keep her company, Nick," Delgato said with a smile, "You go see what Bogo wants."

"I owe you one," Nick said handing her bags over and went towards the stairs, "And don't talk her to the Bullpen."

Grace was silent for a few seconds before asking, "We're going to the Bullpen aren't we?"

"You got it," he said smiling.

"Before you leave, how do you two know each other?" Clawhauser asked.

"Her mom's one of the best prosecuting attorneys in Tundratown," Delgato replied.

"Was," Grace said looking down at the floor, "She died yesterday." The two officers looked at her shocked.

"Oh Gracie, I'm sorry," Delgato said kneeling in front of her.

"It's ok," she said sniffing back tears, "Nick promised mom that he would take care of me before she passed."

"And between his partner and ever mammal that knew your mom, we'll make sure he does," he said placing a paw on her shoulder, "Now, you ready to go see Fangmerey and Grizzoli?" She nodded as she looked up and started to smile. While the two walked towards the Bullpen, Nick knocked on the chief's door.

"Come in," the fox heard the cape buffalo say.

Nick stepped inside closed the door behind him.

"Have a seat, Wilde," Bogo said looking at the fox.

"I take it this has something to do with Grace," the fox said climbing up into a chair.

Bogo was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I got the initial report back from Clawson about yesterday. While this normally doesn't happen, I'm glad you did what you did."

"You are, sir?" Nick asked a little surprised.

"I had the privilege of meeting Mrs. Locksley a few times," Bogo said with a nod, "Now, I want you to tell me everything that happened from the time you arrived yesterday till you left."

Nick took a deep breathe before he started to talk about the day prior. He made sure not to leave any details out. It wasn't until he started talking about finding Grace that the Cape buffalo interrupted him.

"Do you know what she used to start that fire?" Bogo asked looking up from a paper on his desk.

"Possibly school books, sir, I was more worried about getting her out of that storm at the time," Nick said.

"And once you found her, you wrapped her in a blanket and carried her inside the winter gear you had on to keep her warm. Is that correct?" Bogo asked.

"Yes sir," Nick said with a slight nod.

"How far away from the hospital were you when you ran out of those flares?" Bogo asked.

"The hospital was on the outside edge of the storm; so by the time I reached it, I had two left," Nick stated raising an eyebrow, "What are you looking at sir?"

"Chief Clawson faxed over a report he had you fill out before you left this morning," Bogo said leaning back in his chair, "I wanted to make certain that you're story matched the report."

"And does it sir?" the fox asked.

"You had one flare left in you backpack and two in your jacket by the time you reached the hospital," Bogo said putting the report on the table, "He also sent over a copy of the judge's reason for making you Grace's adoptive father, information about her mother's funeral and the preliminary reports on the climate wall and the accident."

"I contacted the lawyer that is taking care of Mrs. Locksley's estate and found out the reason behind the adoption," Nick said sounding a little intrigued, "I would like to hear about the rest."

"No. You won't," Bogo said before handing over a piece of paper, "What happened at the Climate Wall wasn't a simple malfunction. Someone hacked the automated system and increased the unit output to its maximum."

"You mean someone did this as a sick joke?" Nick asked looking at the paper.

"No. It was murder," Bogo said leaning back in his chair, "The brakes on Mrs. Locksley's car failed and the airbag had been disabled."

"Who would want her dead?" Nick asked looking at his chief.

"Clawson doesn't think she was the intended target," Bogo said.

The fox was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Considering what Grace's aunt thinks of her, I wouldn't be surprised if she was responsible."

"What did her aunt call her?" Bogo asked.

"An abomination," Nick replied.

"Well Clawson seems to agree with you about that," Bogo stated looking at the fox, "Which is why I'm placing you two in protective custody."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, sir," Nick stated.

"Shut your mouth, Wilde!" Bogo yelled standing up, "I don't care if you think it's a good idea or not. From this point forward, you two are under ZPD protection. There will be a guard posted outside your place starting today and you will have an escort anyway you go. This is not up for debate. Now get down to the Bullpen and I will let you know where you two will be heading afterwards."

Nick glared at his commanding officer before saying, "Yes sir." He hopped off the chair and left the room without saying another word.

"I don't believe him," he mumbled as he made his way back down to the main lobby, "Just who does he think he is anyway?" He continued to walk towards the Bullpen as he tried to calm down. His temper hadn't improved by the time he reached his destination. As he walked in, he quickly noticed the number of stares he was getting.

"Go ahead and say it," he said walking towards his seat, "Better to get it out know before Buffalo Butt gets here."

"And which part would that be?" Grizzoli asked from his seat, "The jokes about you becoming a parent of sorts, us saying good job on saving Gracie, or the 'if anything happens to you and Hopps will need a new partner threats' from those of us that consider Grace one of the family."

"At this point in time, I really don't care," Nick said climbing up onto his seat.

"Can we skip the jokes and threats please?" Grace asked before sitting next to the fox.

"You got it, Grace," Grizzoli said as the Chief walked in.


	6. Chapter Six: Harassing the In-Laws

Chapter Six:

Harassing the In-Laws...

The funeral for Mrs. Locksley was set for the following day. In regards to her wishes, Daniel had made certain that the event be kept private so Grace could grieve in peace. Something that he didn't expect was that the officers that knew the young kit mother showing up in their dress blues to pay their respects. It wasn't until the coffin was lowered into the ground that Grace finally cried. Nick didn't say a word as he gently picked her up and held her close.

"It's ok, Grace," he whispered closing his eyes, "It's ok."

After everything was done, Nick carried her over to where vehicle similar to his squad car was sitting.

"Where are we going?" she asked as he opened the passenger door.

"I hope you don't mind, but I thought you might like to go meet one of my friends," he said setting her on the seat.

"Its fine," she said buckling in.

"I think you'll like my friend," he said before closing the door. He went over to the driver's side as got in behind the wheel.

"What happens when we die?" she asked as he started the car.

The fox was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I asked my mom that once. She said we when die, our souls become one with the stars."

"Why?" she asked looking at him.

"So they can always watch over us," he said before putting the car into gear.

"Do you really think my mom's up there?" she asked.

"As sure as I call my partner Carrots," he said smiling.

"Do you really call her Carrots?" she asked surprised.

"Yup, and she calls me Slick," he answered. A comfortable silence willed the car as he turned onto the main road. It wasn't long before Grace noticed that they were leaving the city.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they passed a sign saying now leaving Zootopia.

"Like I said, we're going to visit a friend," he replied glancing at her, "Unfortunately; my friend is visiting her folks in her hometown."

"Does she know you're coming?" she asked

"Her parents asked me to come out there," he said focusing on the road, "And yes, I did tell them about you. They can't wait to meet you."

Grace smiled a little as they continued on. The conversation then took a lighter tone as they started to ask each other questions ranging from favorite movies to what foods they liked. They were in a deep discussion about music when Nick noticed a sign for a produce stand.

"Are you getting hungry?" he asked.

"Very," the young kit said before her stomach growled.

"That makes two of us," he said pulling up to the stand, "Anything special you want?"

"An apple if they have any," she replied.

"If they have any," he said parking the car. He started to put his sunglasses on when he noticed a familiar face running the stand.

"Hey Grace, I think you might want to tag along in case they don't have any apples," he said before getting out of the vehicle.

"Ok," she said before getting out. As they walked over to the stand, he couldn't help but notice that his partner looked like she was daydreaming. _'I wonder how long before she realizes she has customers,'_ he thought as he smiled.

"Is she ok?" Grace whispered looking up at him.

He leaned down slightly and whispered, "I think she might be daydreaming." They stood in front of the stand quietly for a few seconds before Judy sighed and pulled a familiar carrot pen out of her pocket. She pressed a button on the side and frowned a little as it said, "I love you, dumb fox."

Nick was glad of his red for at the moment for it easily hid the fact he was blushing as he said. "Gee Carrots, I didn't know you cared."

The tips of the bunny's ears turned pink as she retorted, "About time you got here, Slick. What took you so long?"

"Traffic," he replied simply, "Anyway, Carrots I'd like you to meet Grace. Grace, this is my partner on the ZPD Officer Judy Hopps."

"H-hi," the young kit said shyly.

Judy walked around to the front of the stand and knelt in front of the kit, "Nice to meet you, Grace."

"Are you really Nick's partner?" Grace asked.

"Ever since he graduated the academy," Judy said smiling, "Now, what can I get you?"

"Do you have any apples?" Grace asked before her stomach growled.

Judy giggled slightly as she grabbed an apple and handed it to the young kit saying, "This is on me. While a certain fox still has to pay for any blueberries he eats."

"I'll have you know I will be paying for my blueberries as soon as I get some service," Nick said crossing his arms.

"Um, Ms. Hopps, are you sure it's ok for me to have this?" Grace asked a little nervously.

"I'm sure, Grace," Judy said looking at the young kit, "Why do you ask?"

"My mom used to say 'never take something without paying for it'," Grace said looking at the apple in her paws.

"While I agree with your mother; my family owns this stand so it's ok," Judy said before standing up, "And I am glad you two got here when you did."

"Soon to be brother in-law getting that annoying?" Nick asked as he watched his partner step back behind the counter.

'You have no idea," Judy said with a heavy sigh, "Between him running his mouth, my sister worrying about the wedding tomorrow, and the bachelorette party another one has planned for her tonight I'm starting to miss work."

"And to think you still have another two weeks off yet," he said as Grace took a tentative bite of her apple.

"Don't remind me," Judy said growled. She looked at her partner and smiled a little before asking, "So other than what happened in Tundratown, did I miss anything?"

Grace swallowed her mouth full before saying, "Nick was handed an envelope by his boss and was told to shut up or he'd be on parking duty until you came back."

"Yeah, that sounds like Nick," Judy said with a laugh, "What was in the envelope?"

"I don't know," he said pulling the envelope out of his shirt pocket and handing it to his partner, "It was addressed to you. He said you need to read that in private."

"It must be important then," Judy said turning it over in her paws. She put it in her back jeans pocket as a pickup truck pulled up. "Oh boy," she sighed rolling her eyes. Nick looked over to see a bunny almost identical to his partner get out followed by another with white fur.

"Let me guess; the pain," he asked quietly looking over at Judy. His partner gave a slight nod as the new arrivals walked towards them. _'Let the fun begin,'_ he thought looking over at the two.

"Having fun, Jude the dude?" the white bunny asked smiling.

"Don't call me that, Evan," Judy said glaring at the bunny.

The white bunny laughed as his companion said, "Relax Judy, you know he's only playing."

"But why would you call someone they don't like being called?" Grace asked before taking another bite of her apple.

"Oh he's always been like that," the other bunny said looking at the young kit, "And who are you, little one?"

"I'm Grace," the young kit said taking a step towards Nick.

"And before you ask, she's with me," Nick said placing a paw on Grace's shoulder, "Nick Wilde. I'm a friend of Judy's."

"And when you say friend, you mean?" Evan asked.

"I'm her fiancé," Nick replied smiling as he looked at the white rabbit, "I asked her about four minutes before you and Jenny, if I remember right, got here."

"Wait a minute. You two are?" Jenny asked glancing from her sister to the fox.

"Yup," Nick said with a nod, "Unfortunately, the ring I got your sister got lost somewhere in the car on the drive here."

Evan scoffed saying, "Oh please. You are such a liar."

"What makes you say that?" Nick asked.

"First off it's against the law for a predator and prey to be together like that," Even said glaring at the fox, "Secondly, I know you're not a cop because that is the worst police uniform I have ever seen and there has never been a fox cop. Nor will there ever be one because even knows that foxes can't be trusted. And finally, you need to get away from that kit right now before I call the cops on you for kit-napping."

Nick stepped up to the white rabbit and saying, "First off, this uniform is a officers dress uniform that is only worn during certain events, such as a funeral. Second, not only did I graduate a year after Judy, I'm her partner at Precinct One. Third and foremost, you so much as take a step towards Grace and I will have you up on attempted molestation charges faster than you can blink. Speaking of charges, Evan, does your fiancé know that you have an active warrant out for your arrest?"

"I-I-I d-don't know what you're talking about," Evan said taking an involuntary step backwards.

"And that right there is a lie," Judy said walking around to the front of the stand, "I had a friend run a background check on you, Evan, and what my partner just said is true. In fact, you not only does the ZPD have a warrant for your arrest, someone by the name of Mr. Big wants to talk to you."

"Maybe we should call and have one of them come pick this hustler want to be up," Nick said looking at his partner.

"Um, I already called Uncle Mike, Nick," Grace said hiding behind Nick, "He said to hold that guy till he gets here."

The two officers looked back at the young kit briefly before looking back at the white bunny as Jenny asked, "Is what Nick said true, Evan?"

"I swear, Jenny, none of its true," Evan said quickly, "You know you can't believe anything a fox says."

"Depending on the fox," she said walking towards him, "And one thing I do know is that Nick would never make up a story like that." She grabbed the front of his shirt and looked him dead in the eyes. "If you get arrested for ANY reason between now and the wedding, consider our engagement over. Now get in the truck before I let Judy beat you half to death for calling her something our father is only allowed to call her."

"Yes dear," he squeaked as his eyes went wide with terror. He ran back to the truck after she released him and got in the cab.

"Oh I like her," Nick said smiling.


	7. Chapter Seven: Out With The Old

Chapter Seven:

Out With The Old..

At four thirty, Judy finally closed the stand down for the day. Thanks to Nick and Grace's help, the three of them had everything put away and on their way to her family's home. Luckily it didn't take long before the unmarked cruiser pulled onto a private drive from the main road.

"You know we're going to get in trouble, right?" Nick asked as he drove towards the Hopps farm.

"Worth it," Judy said sounding a little smug, "Besides, mom wanted you to do that to him anyway."

"Not to mention he asked for that," he said smiling.

"I do have one question though," she said looking at her partner.

"If it's about why I'm in my dress blues, I'll tell you later," he said as the house drew closer.

"Actually, I was wondering where you got that hoodie you have on, Grace," she said looking at the young kit in the back seat.

"My mom had it made for me," Grace said quietly, "She said it was so I wouldn't get stared at in public. Why?"

"Because you look like a fox when the hood it up," Judy replied.

"Is that wrong?" Grace asked a little nervously.

"I think Carrot's is more curious as to where you got that," Nick said pulling the cruiser to a stop in front of a large house, "And we're here."

"This is going to be fun to watch," Judy said looking at her partner.

"For you maybe," Nick grumble as he put the vehicle in park, "Grace, you may want to stay in the car for a few minutes."

"Ok, why?" the young kit asked. He looked at her in the rearview mirror and winked before getting out of the vehicle.

"What is he doing?" she asked a little worried. She moved into the front seat and watched as a bunny that looked like an older version of Judy walk out of the house.

"I sent my mom a text earlier saying that Nick was in his dress blues and asked her to make sure my siblings didn't tackle him until he changed," Judy said looking at her young friend, "Nick told me about what happened to your mom."

"Did he tell you we buried her this morning?" Grace asked quietly as a tear slid down her cheek, "Or how my dad's family thinks I'm a freak?"

"The only thing he didn't tell me about was what your family thought of you," Judy said gently placing a hand on the kit's shoulder, "And I don't think you're a freak."

"Yes I am," Grace said as she reached up and pushed her hood down. Judy's eyes slowly went wide as she looked at the young kit. "My aunt calls me an abomination," Grace said.

Judy reached up and pulled the young kit into a hug saying, "You're not an abomination. If anything you're the type of kit I could only hope to have as a daughter."

"Really?" Grace asked.

"Yes really," Judy said smiling slightly. Grace slowly wrapped her arms around the bunny as she buried her face in her shoulder. "It's ok, Grace, its ok," Judy said gently rubbing her friends back.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Grace whispered, "I wish you were my aunt."

"What are you talking about? I already am your aunt," Judy said looking down at her friend, "I mean you already call some of the other male officers your uncle. So that would mean that the female officers would be your aunts."

The young kit slowly looked up as she said, "I mean my actual aunt." Judy didn't have long to process what the young kit had said before the passenger door was pulled open. They looked over to see the bunny Nick had met standing there.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet Grace," Judy said taking care of the introductions, "Grace, this is my mom."

"H-hi Mrs. Hopps," Grace said nervously as her ears went flat.

"Please call me Bonnie," Judy's mother said smiling, "Any friend of Nick's is a friend of ours, except that Finnick fellow. He needs to clean up his language before he's allowed back here."

"O-ok B-Bonnie," Grace said as she started to smile.

"Now you're probably as hungry as Nick. So how about Judy shows you were you can get changed and cleaned up before dinner, ok?" Bonnie asked. Grace nodded as she pulled her hood back up. "Why did you do that?" Bonnie asked tilting her head to the side.

"Do what?" Grace asked getting out of the cruiser.

"You pulled your hood up," Bonnie answered, "I was just wondering why you did that."

Grace looked down at the ground as she said, "I'm not what some would call normal." She reached up and slowly pushed her hood back to let her ears free. "Mom said I'm what some would call a hybrid, but my aunt called me an..."

"Alright stop," Bonnie said cutting the kit off. The elder bunny knelt in front of the young kit and pulled her into a gentle hug saying, "If that side of your family doesn't want to know you, then it's their loss. From this point forward, you're as much family as Nick is. Understand?"

"I wouldn't argue if I were you, Grace," Nick said as he walked past carrying a couple of suitcases towards the house, "I tried once and about lost my tail because of it."

"That and you about got banned from blueberries until you apologized to every member of my family," Judy said getting out of the cruiser.

"Can you two please keep it down?" Bonnie asked as she looked from one to the other, "I think she fell asleep."

Nick quietly walked over and said softly, "It wouldn't surprise if she did. Grace was fighting sleep last night for as long as she could."

"Tell me later," Bonnie said as she carefully stood up with the young kit in her arms, "Right now, let's get her to bed so she can sleep for a while." Nick gave a slight nod before following monarch of the Hopps family inside. After tucking the young kit into an open bed, Nick grabbed a change of clothes from his suit case and went to the bathroom. As he walked out a few minutes later wearing a white t-shirt and brown pants, he noticed Judy was leaning against a wall reading the letter he had given her earlier.

"So what does Buffalo Butt have to say?" he asked walking up to his partner.

"Probably a lot of what you already know," she said before handing him part of the letter, "Both him and Chief Clawson think someone wanted Grace and her mother dead. But not just that, Bogo wants me to act as Grace's bodyguard while you two are here in Bunnyburrow."

"Looks like your vacation is on hold for now, Carrots," he said with a slight smile.

"Actually, it's not," she said handing him the letter, "Grace's lawyer put a request in for an off duty officer do this until the case is closed. Bogo thought you might come here to let Grace grieve in peace, so he wrote this letter just in case."

"Well, score one for the chief," he said looking the piece of paper over, "Did this letter say anything else about what's happened?"

"Just something about a judge making sure that Grace stays away from her aunt," she replied before getting the letter handed back, "And that you'd explain it."

The fox looked down to the room Grace was in and sighed before saying, "The only way the judge would even agree to let me have guardianship of Grace was if I adopted her as my daughter."

"Did the judge give a reason for that?" she asked.

"Her father's side of the family all has the same attitude about her," he said leaning back against the wall, "By making her my adoptive daughter, they can't go near her. But also, he said raising her should be a breeze for one of the mammals that took down Bellwether."

"I understand about the wanting to make sure her one relative's can't go after her," she said as the back of her paw brushed against his, "Especially if what Grace said was true about her aunt." Making sure that their paws were hid, he carefully took her paw in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"She called Grace an abomination instead of calling her by her actual name," he said softly, "No one should be called that; regardless of what they are." A comfortable silence filled the hallway as the two officers stood there. "I missed you, Judy," he whispered smiling slightly. The bunny smiled as she nudged her partners shoulder with her head slightly.

"I missed you too, Nick," she whispered before looking up at him, "So when do you want to tell everyone?"

"Knowing our luck, they probably already know," he said looking down the hall.

"Oh come on, Nick, how would they know?" she asked a little surprised at his response, "We don't get to visit that often, and when you do come it's for the blueberry harvest. Granted, you telling Evan that we're engaged didn't help matters."

"True, but the look on his face was worth it," he said glancing down at her, "Even you have to admit that his reaction was funny."

"It was a little funny," she said smiling. She shifted her paw just enough to entwine their fingers as she rested her head on his arm. "I still say they're going to freak when they find out about us," she said looking across the hall.

"Come of your siblings maybe," he said nonchalantly, "Your dad is either going to pass out or try and kill me."

"How can you be so calm about this?" she asked surprised looking at him.

"Because I've seen what can come from two mammals like us getting together," he said turning to face her, "Both you and your mother have as well. If you don't believe me, then you might want to remember who you gave an apple to back at the stand." Judy looked down at the room Grace was in and back at the fox. "Her mother was an artic fox and her father was a brown bunny," he said answering her unasked question.

"You'd never know just by looking at her," Judy said looking back towards the room.

"You would if she didn't hide her ears and tail," he said sounding a little sad, "Delgato says she's been bullied because of being a hybrid."

"And that's not going to happen here," Judy said sounding determined, "Right, partner?"

"You got it, Officer Fluff," he said with a nod.


	8. Chapter Eight: In With the Fluffy

Chapter Eight:

In With the Fluffy…

It was just before six the following morning before Grace woke up. The details of the previous day slowly started to filter back into her mind as she sat up. She looked around the room and spotted her suitcase next to the closet. After getting changed, she slipped into quietly into the hall and started walking towards what she hoped was the staircase.

"Nick, where are you?" she whispered nervously. The sound of a door opening a few feet behind her caused her to stop in mid step. She slowly looked behind her and swallowed as she saw a bunny about her age looking at her.

"Hi, you must be Grace," the bunny said smiling a little.

"How do you know my name?" she asked taking a step backwards.

"Mom told me," the bunny said walking over, "I'm Dillion, one of Judy's little brothers."

"Uh hi," she said with a slight wave.

"If you need to use the bathroom, you might want to do it now," he said motioning towards the room he had stepped out of, "My sister Jenny is getting married today and it's going to be a mad house here."

"Thank you," she said before quickly heading to the room. She came back out a few minutes later and sighed.

"Feel better?" he asked smiling a little.

She nodded as she walked over to him and said, "A lot. Thank you Dillion."

"You're welcome," he said smiling, "Come on. I'll show you where the kitchen is. Mom should be up cooking breakfast." She nodded before following him down the hall. As the two entered the kitchen, she noticed that there was only one other bunny in the kitchen.

"You're up early Dillion," Bonnie said looking over at the two new arrivals, "Hello Grace. Did you sleep well?" The young kid nodded as she took an open seat at the table.

"So you're Nick's new friend, huh?" a bunny in overhauls and a ball cap said from where he sat at the end of the table.

"That's my dad," Dillion said looking at her, "Dad, this is Grace."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Grace said a little nervously.

"Call me Stu," Dillion's father said looking over at the clock, "He should be getting up soon."

"Who are you talking about?" Grace asked a little puzzled.

"I think dad's talking about Uncle Nick," Dillion said as a plate of pancakes was placed in front of him and Grace each, "Thanks mom."

"Thank you Bonnie," Grace said before she took a tentative bite.

"You're welcome, Grace," the bunny monarch said smiling as more bunnies entered the room.

"Is he up yet, mom?" one of the new arrivals asked excitedly.

"Not yet, but his friend is," Bonnie said looking at the bunny, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Grace." The young kit smiled a little before sinking in her seat a little. "Her and Nick are going to be our guest for the next couple of days. That means you all need to be on your best behavior," Bonnie said before turning back to the stove, "Starting after you all say hi to Nick."

"What about me?" Nick asked with a yawn as he entered the kitchen wearing his normal shirt and pants. He looked into the room and froze as he saw the number of bunnies looking at him. "Oh no," he whispered taking a step backwards. A loud cheer erupted from the kitchen as the bunnies rushed into the living room and tackled the fox.

"What are they doing?" Grace asked before they heard a loud whistle.

"That's enough everyone," Judy said walking up, "We got a big day so you need to eat before we get started." The bunnies laughed as the let go of the fox and went into the dining room. Once the last of them let go, Judy looked down at her partner and asked, "You ok, Slick?"

"As strange as it sounds, I've actually missed that," he said slowly getting up.

"You've missed being tackled by my brothers and sister?" she asked with a slight smile, "Did you hit your head when they tackled you?"

"It's either that or he smelled your mother's blueberry pancakes," Stu called out from the kitchen.

"Figures it would involve food," Judy said as the two walked to the kitchen.

"What can I say? I love your mother's cooking," Nick said as he sat next to Grace, "How are you doing, Grace?"

"I'm good and I like her cooking too," The young kit said before taking another bite of her pancakes.

"I'm glad you like them, Grace," Bonnie said smiling a little, "I'm as happy to hear about that as I am that another of my girls is engaged."

Judy looked at her mother and asked, "You're kidding?"

"You know your mother doesn't joke about stuff like that, Jude the dude," Stu said before taking a drink of his coffee.

"That's great news," Nick said as a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of him.

"You're welcome Nicholas," Bonnie said leaning back against the counter. Grace stopped in mid bite as her gaze shifted to each of the people in the room.

"So who's the lucky bunny that's getting hitched?" he asked before taking a bite.

"From what Jenny told us, it's you and Judy, Nicholas," Stu said looking at the fox.

"Actually mom, that was just to freak out Evan," Judy said with a sigh, "He was getting on my nerves and we did asked Nick to shut him up, remember? "

"So Nick has yet to ask you then?" Bonnie asked.

"Mom, we're not even dating," Judy said sitting in a chair.

"Nicholas, is that true?" Bonnie asked looking at the fox. Nick's eyes went wide before taking a large bit then responded.

Grace looked at Bonnie and said, "They've been dating for the past eight months."

Nick swallowed his mouth full and looked at her in shock as he asked, "How did you understand that?"

"Snarlov and Grizzoli talk with their mouths full from time to time," she said before looking back at her plate, "Sorry."

"Its fine Grace," Judy said with a slight laugh, "We were going to end up telling them sooner or later."

"You're been dating for eight months?" Stu asked looking from his daughter to her partner and back. Once the two nodded in agreement, he got up and walked over to the doorway. "Come here, Dillion," he said preaching for his wallet.

"Wait a minute, you bet on us?" Judy asked surprised.

"Delgato said that they have one going on at Precinct One about how long you two have been dating," Grace said as she watched the older bunny hand some bills to the younger one, "The current pot is close to a grand right now."

"And ten to one there is an age limit as to who can enter," Nick said as Stu walked back to his seat. Judy had barely enough time to glare at her partner before her sister walked in and sit in a chair.

"Hey Jenny, are you ready for the big day?" Stu asked.

The younger bunny looked at her father and said, "The weddings off. Evan was arrested last night for back kit support and polygamy." The room was silent for a few seconds as everyone took in what had just been said.

"Hey Nick," Grace said looking at the fox, "Why don't you and Judy get married then? I mean everything is already set up for one, right?"


	9. Chapter Nine: Phone Calls

Chapter Nine:

Phone Calls…

After a short discussion, it was decided that the wedding would happy one day later than originally planned. But it would be between Nick and Judy instead of the intended couple. This meant a minor shift in certain things. One of which meant making a few phone calls so certain people could be there. For Judy, that meant placing calls to both Clawhauser (as much as she didn't want to) and Fru Fru. Whereas Nick only had to make two calls; the first being Finnick (which included a bodily harm threat about his language and behavior) and the second to one person in particular.

Finnick had been easy for the most part: call the fennec fox, let him know what was going on, then had the phone over to Bonnie to administer the warnings. Once that was done, Nick then dialed a number he knew all too well. _'Please don't be mad,'_ he thought as he waited for the call to connect.

A slight smile crossed his muzzle as he heard a familiar voice say, "Hello."

"Hey mom," he said as his smiled widened, "How's it going?"

"Hello Nicky," his mother said over the phone, "What did you do that caused Judy to dump your dumb butt?"

"She didn't dump me, mom," he said with a sigh, "Wait a minute, what makes you think she dumped me?"

"Because she's the one with the brains in your relationship," she said sounding a little smug.

"Ha-ha," he said sitting in a chair, "I'm about tempted not to ask you to come tomorrow."

"If you're talking about you and Judy's wedding, I will be there tomorrow morning," she said sounding excited.

"Someone already called you?" he asked surprised.

"No, Judy texted me," she replied with a slight laugh, "She also asked me to give you a hard time about this and to ask about Grace."

Nick glared over at his bunny before he started to let his mother know about what all had happened over the course of the week. By the time he finished, he half expected his mother to rip into him about agreeing to take in Grace the way he did. But what surprised him was instead of yelling, she simple stated she was proud of him.

"You are?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Yes, I am," she said sounding happy, "Most mammals would have let her go to an orphanage instead of agreeing to be her guardian like that."

"Actually mom, the judge didn't make me her guardian," he said with a weak laugh.

"What do you mean?" she asked puzzled.

He took a deep breathe before saying, "The judge apparently knew about the hatred Grace's aunt had towards her. So in order to make certain Grace stayed with me, he changed to guardianship request to adoption."

The line was silent for a few seconds before she asked, "You mean she's?"

"My daughter according to the courts," he said looking over towards the young kit in question, "It also means you're a grandmother."

"I see," she said softly. _'Oh crap,'_ he thought as his ears flattened against his head.

"I'm catching the next train to Bunnyburrow," she said suddenly, "You better be at the station with her when I get there."

"I know better than to try and tell you to calm down, but that is a three hour train ride," he said with a sigh.

"And you better be at the station with Grace waiting for me," she said before hanging up.

"Crap," he muttered as he leaned back in his chair.

"I take it you mother took the news well," Judy asked walking up to him.

"My mother will be catching the next train here," he said hanging his head; "Grace and I have to meet her at the station in three hours."

"We'll see about that," Judy said taking his phone. Nick gave her a puzzled look as he watched her dial a number.

"Hi Mrs. Wilde, its Judy," the bunny said walked over to the far end of the couch, "I just wanted to let you know that the train station has a new express rail that can get you here in an hour. I can order a ticket for you if you want so you… Not a problem, Mrs. Wilde. See you soon." She tossed the phone to her partner and smiled saying, "She'll be here in less than two hours."

"Are you nuts?" he asked getting to his feet, "Wait. Don't answer that. I already know the answer, and its yes."

"What is your problem, Nick?" she asked looking at him.

"My problem, Carrots, is that one; we're getting married tomorrow. Even though I haven't actually purposed to you yet," he said quietly as he started pacing, "Two; I haven't told Grace that the judge made me her adoptive father, not her guardian. And three; I now have to explain all this to her a little over twenty-four hours after she buried her mother."

"No, you don't," the two heard Grace say. Nick stopped in his tracks and turned to see the kit in question standing next to his chair looking like she was ready to cry.

"How much did you hear?" he asked.

"All of it," she said as a tear slid down her cheek, "Am I really your daughter?"

"Legally yes," he said walking over to her. He knelt in front of the young kit before continuing, "The judge did that to make sure you were protected from your aunt. The only reason I didn't tell you sooner was because I was trying to figure out how to."

"When did you know?" she asked sniffing back her tears.

"The night before we went to talk to Chief Bogo," he replied as he gently took her paws in his, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Grace, and I ..." He never finished his sentence as she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck.

"It's ok, Nick," she whispered as her tears began to fall freely. Nick sat there for a second frozen before wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. "Hey Nick, I have a question," she said after a few seconds.

He leaned back and looked at her as he asked, "What's that, Grace?"

"If you marry Judy, does that mean she's my new mom?" the young kit asked.

"Only if you want me to be," Judy said as she walked over, "I can never replace your mom, Grace, but I will love you like you're my own daughter."

"I believe you, Judy," Grace said looking at the bunny with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, no more tears," Nick said grabbing a Kleenex and handing her one, "At least for now, ok?"

"Because there's a bunch of mammals that you need to meet," Judy stated.

"And when you say a bunch?" Grace asked a little leery.

"Two hundred seventy-five cousins, assorted aunts and uncles, some of the mammals we work with at the ZPD, and Nick's mom," Judy said.

"Grace got named the Precinct One sweetheart earlier this week," Nick said looking at his partner, "She did seem a little scared of Clawhauser though."

"Let me guess, there was a cheetah in your class that bullied you," Judy said before they heard someone clear their throat. The three looked towards the couch to see Judy's siblings looking at them. "Ah, what do you guys need?" she asked slowly looking around.

"You and Nick can't get married till he purposes," one of the bunnies said.

"Oh is that so?" Judy asked looking at her sibling. The other bunnies voiced their agreement.

"They do have a point, Carrots," Nick said motioning for Grace to go sit down. She quickly moved over to the chair and sat next to Dillion.

"Does that mean you're going to purpose, Slick?" Judy asked looking at him.

He shifted so he was on one knee facing her as he pulled a small box out of his pocket saying, "I actually was going to ask you after the reception." The room went silent as he opened the box to reveal an amethyst set between two emeralds on a gold band. "I know I drive you nuts with everything I do," he said as his voice shook slightly, "I joke around way too much, I don't take this seriously, and I don't tell you how much I love you as often as I should.

"But yet, I can't image a day without you. Ever since we meet three years ago, you changed my life in ways I can't even fathom, and I find a new reason to love you more and more every day. So I humbly ask, Judith Laverne Hopps, will you marry me and make me the happiest fox on the planet?" The room was silent as all eyes focused on the bunny in question.

"You dumb fox," Judy said as tears filled her eyes, "Yes." Nick slipped the ring on her finger and hugged her as the room erupted into cheers. The bunnies cheered even louder as the two shared a kiss.

"Get a room!" one of Judy's brothers called out which caused the others to start laughing.

"We would, but Slick here has to go pick up his mother yet," Judy retorted with a smile, "And yes, I will go with you and Grace to go get her."


	10. Chapter Ten: First Meeting

Chapter Ten:

First Meeting…

Nick glanced at the clock and sighed. According to the time, the express train from Zootopia was at least five minutes late. As he started pacing on the platform, he was starting to wonder if he shouldn't have drove back to pick his mother up.

"Sit down, Slick," Judy said from the bench her and Grace were sitting on, "It will get here when it gets here."

He looked over at his partner and said, "It should've been here five minutes ago, Carrots."

"And it will get here when it gets here, Slick. Now would you relax already?" she asked getting aggravated.

"I'll relax when the train gets here," he said looking towards the clock.

"Maybe the train will arrive once you fix your tie," Grace suggested. Nick stopped in his tracks and looked down to find the young kit was right.

"Thank you, Grace," he said straightening it. She went to reply but stopped as she saw the train pull in.

"Good call," Judy said looking at her friend. Grace smiled as she watched a lone vixen step off the train. She was as red as Nick's only with patches of grey around her muzzle. She must have been the one Nick had been waiting on for he walked over and hugged her.

"Hey mom," he said smiling.

"Hello Nick," the vixen said before leaning back to look at him, "I see Judy has been making sure you stay in shape."

"It's either stay in shape or get yelled at by Bogo for losing track of her during a foot chase," he said with a slight laugh, "But seriously, there is someone I want you to meet." They walked over to the bench as Judy and Grace stood up. "Mom, I'd like you to meet Grace Locksley," he said making the introductions, "Grace, this is my mom, Maria Wilde."

"I-it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Wilde," Grace said shyly.

"It's nice to meet you too, Grace," Maria said smiling as she knelt in front of the kit, "And you can call me Grandma Maria if you'd like."

"O-ok, Grandma Maria," Grace said smiling a little.

"So, would one of you like to tell me how my son is getting married to someone he hasn't even asked yet?" Maria asked looking at each mammal.

"Actually, I asked her shortly after I got done talking to you, mom" he said smiling, "And there is another reason we're getting married tomorrow."

"And it actually has nothing to do with either of us," Judy said.

"You have five minutes to explain before I ground my son and have him do some repairs that need to be done at my place," Maria said crossing her arms and looking at the bunny.

"We'll explain on the way to her parents place," Nick said grabbing his mother's suitcase. After placing the bag in the trunk, they began to head back to the Hopp's family home. Judy drove and explained what all was planned while Nick sat in the back with Grace. It wasn't until the unmarked cruiser final pulled into the drive when Nick noticed that Grace was watching him.

"What? Do I have something on my fur?" he asked looking at the young kit.

"It's either that or she finds you funny looking," Judy muttered as she pulled the car to a stop.

"Not funny, Carrots," he said before Grace bolted from the car.

"Thank you," was all the young kit said before running inside.

"I wonder what that was about," Judy said as they got out of the vehicle.

"Think I should go talk to her?" Nick asked sounding a little worried.

"Later, Nickolas," his mother said looking at him, "Let her have some privacy right now." Things seemed a little livelier at the Hopps residence after introductions were made. Unfortunately, having the newly engaged couples parents meet soon became a very bad idea. While they got off to a great start, it wasn't long before they were sharing stories about their kits from when they were children, almost as if they were trying to see which one had the most embarrassing story about the couple.

It wasn't until his mother started telling one particular story that Nick decided to step out to use the bathroom. As he walked down the hall, he heard what sounded like someone crying from one of the rooms. He followed the sound to the room across from his. "Grace?" he asked lightly before knocking on the door, "It's Nick. You ok?" The room was silent for a few seconds before the door opened slightly.

"I'm sorry," she said before walking over to the bed. Her comment caught him by surprise as he entered the room.

"What are you apologizing for, Grace?" he asked a little puzzled. She climbed up on the bed and sat in the center of it.

"I called your mom grandma," she said quietly.

"Ok, but why are you apologizing for that?" he asked sitting next to her.

"Mom introduced me to my dad's mother once," she said pulled her knees to her chest, "She went to be with dad the next day after I called her that."

He reached over and gently placed a hand on her back as he said, "And nothing bad is going to happen to my mom. I promise."

"You sure?" she asked looking at him.

"Cross my heart," he said with a gentle smile, "No more talk about death, ok?"

"Ok Nick," she said leaning on his shoulder. They sat there in silence for a few seconds before she asked, "Hey Nick, what are Midnicampum holicithias?"

He looked at her a little surprised before saying, "A very danger plant. Why do you ask?"

"Vickie said I made dad's mom O.D. on them after calling her grandma," Grace said closing her eyes.

"That sorry excuse of a hare has no idea what she is talking about," he said hugging the young kit tight. Her eyes started to drift shut when they heard a knock on the door.

"Sorry to interrupt," Dillion said from the door way, "But mom says lunch is ready."

"Thanks Dillion," Grace said smiling slightly.

"We'll be down in a minute, Dillion," Nick said looking at the young bunny.

"Judy said you're to come now or you mom will meet what you call the kerfluffle," Dillion said a little sheepishly.

"She better not," Grace said hopping off the bed and running from the room.

Nick couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction before saying, "Go on ahead, Dillion, I'll be there in a few." The bunny gave a slight nod before running off. _'I think you've found a good friend, Grace,'_ he thought before sliding off the bed. After checking to make sure the hall was clear, he pulled his phone out and dialed a number.

"Chief Bogo," a gruff voice said after a few moments.

"Hey chief, it's Wilde," Nick said

"Officer Wilde, what a pleasant surprise," Bogo said trying to sound happy about the call, "And congratulations on getting married tomorrow."

"Thanks but I need a favor," Nick said closing the door slightly, "I was wondering if you can have someone look into a case for me."

"Is that so?" Bogo asked, his normal gruffness returning slightly, "Does this case have anything to do with any active case, or can it wait till you and Hopps return from your honeymoon?"

"Possibly active," Nick replied leaning against a wall, "According to Grace, her aunt Victoria said her grandmother on her father's O.D. on Night Howler's shortly after calling her grandma."

"And what makes you think there is something more to that story?" Bogo asked.

"You'll have to contact either Daniel Anderson or Chief Clawson at Precinct Three for more details about this," Nick said focusing on the far wall, "Grace's aunt called her an abomination twice during the reading of Laura's will."

"I'll have Snarlov look into it," Bogo said after a few seconds, "Question thou; how long have you and Officer Hopps been dating?"

"For the past eight months, sir," Nick said with a slight laugh, "Please don't tell Clawhauser that."

"Record your wedding and I won't," Bogo said before hanging up. Nick slowly let his head fall back against the wall as he sighed.

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers," he muttered before leaving the room.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Troubles With Fur

Chapter Eleven:

Troubles With Fur…

The rest of the day seemed to go by faster than what anyone expected. Not that anyone seemed to care, especially Grace. Since meeting Nick's mom, the young kit seemed to be more open with everyone. Yet it still felt like she was hiding something. It wasn't until the following day when anyone would find out exactly what that was.

The day started like any other for her. After waking up, she slipped out of the room she was sharing with her grandmother to the bathroom to get a quick shower before the day's madness started. Once she was done and in some fresh clothes; she went to slip back to her room, but stopped when she noticed something in the mirror. "Oh no," she whispered as her eyes went wide, "No. No. No. No. No."

Making sure the coast was, Grace quickly ducked back to her room and quietly closed the door. _'Why today of all days?'_ she thought grabbing her hoodie. She went to pull it on but froze as she heard a bed creek.

"Grace, is that you?" her grandmother asked.

"Morning, Grandma Maria," the young kit said quickly pulling her hoodie on, "If you want to grab a shower, you might want to do that now while no one else is up." She flipped her hood up and turned to leave, only to stop when she felt her grandmother take her paw in hers.

"Gracie, you can tell me if something's wrong," Maria said gently.

"Promise you won't tell?" Grace asked after a few seconds.

"I promise, Gracie, now what's wrong?" her grandmother asked.

Grace reached up and slowly pulled her hood down turning towards her grandmother. Maria's eyes widened slightly as she saw the young kits fur had changed from light tan to white.

"What happened to your fur?" her grandmother asked surprised.

"Some of my cousins dyed my fur when I ran into them at school one time," Grace said as a tear slid down her cheek, "Mom started home schooling me when the school refused to discipline them."

"When did this happen?" Maria asked shocked.

"About a month before my mom died," Grace said quietly.

"And I am going to make certain that those involved in hurting you pay," Maria said placing a finger under the kits chin and tipped her head up, "No one messes with a Wilde and gets away with it."

"But I'm not a Wilde, I'm a Locksley," Grace said.

"And you always will be," Maria said before placing a kiss on the kits forehead, "But the day Nick agreed to take care of you; you became a member of this family. And no matter what happens or what color your fur is, you will always be my grandkit."

"Really?" Grace asked hopefully.

"Yes, really," Maria said before gently pulling Grace into a hug.

"T-t-thank you," Grace said as she started to cry. Maria smiled slightly as she let the young kit cry, figuring that she needed to with everything that had happened as of late.

"It's ok, Gracie," Maria said as she gently stroked the young kits fur, "Let it all out. You're safe here." Grace slowly wrapped her arms around the vixen's waist and returned the hug as her sobs slowed to a stop. "How do you feel?" she asked after a few minutes.

"A lot better," Grace said smiling, "Thank you, Grandma Maria."

"You're welcome, Gracie," Maria said before they heard a knock on the door, "Who is it?"

"It's me, mom," Nick called from the hallway, "Just wanted to make sure everything was ok."

"We're ok, Nick. Come on in," his mother said smiling. She looked down at her granddaughter and whispered, "Want to see him squirm?" Grace nodded slightly before turning towards the door.

"Some of Judy's siblings said they heard someone crying," Nick said stepping into the room.

"That's not important," Maria said looking at her son, "What I want to know is why you are getting married to someone you haven't even asked yet."

"I did too ask Judy," he said defensively.

"Oh really, when?" his mother asked a little skeptical.

"It was shortly after I called you about the wedding today," he said trying to stay calm.

"Oh, so you wait till the day before you about to get married to ask the bunny you've been head over heels in love with for the past three years?" she asked.

"First off, I had originally planned on asking her after her sister's wedding reception," he said seriously, "Secondly, Jenny was supposed to be the one getting married"

"Oh don't give me that, Nicholas," she said wrapping her arms around Grace, "You probably haven't even noticed that Grace's fur turned white."

"I was wondering when the last of that dye those monsters used washed out," Nick said quietly as he pushed the door closed, "And before you ask, Daniel told me about that while we were waiting on Grace."

"You mean you knew?" Grace asked surprised.

"And I figured you would tell me when you were ready," he said looking at the kit. He looked up at his mom and asked quietly, "Now would you two like to know what is going to happen today?"

"What do you have planned?" Maria asked with a slight smirk. He smiled before he explained what all was going to happen. Once he had finished, Maria slowly shook her head as she said, "You are going to need to find somewhere to hide if you pull this off."

"Does Judy know you're going to do this?" Grace asked excitedly.

"Not yet," he said a little sheepishly, "I was kind of hoping you could help convince her, Grace."

"You are not teaching my grandkit how to hustle someone," Maria said glaring at her son.

"Grace is not going to hustle anyone," Nick said holding his paws up, "All she is going to do is let Judy know what is going to happen in private."

"Which is going to be hard considering she is going to be the center of attention today," Maria said before the door quickly opened then shut. They looked over in time to see Judy duck into the closet.

"I'm not here," the bunny whispered before the door swung open by two other bunnies.

"Sorry to barge in, but have you seen Judy?" the one asked.

"Not yet this morning," Nick said shaking his head slightly.

"I think I saw her heading out for a run earlier," Grace said quietly, "Maybe she's heading to the stand."

"Thanks Grace," the one said before the two ran off closing the door behind them. The room was quiet for a few seconds before Judy slowly stepped out of her hiding spot.

"Smart thinking, Grace," the bunny said quietly with a sigh.

"Thanks Judy," the young kit said smiling, "Did you know today is your parents anniversary?"

"Don't remind me," Judy said sitting on the bed.

"Aw, did the little bunny forget not get her parents a gift?" Nick asked with a playful tone in his voice.

"Shut up, Slick," Judy said glaring at him, "Ten to one, you didn't get them one either."

"Oh contraire, Officer Fluff," he said with a smirk, "I figure out the perfect gift for your folks. Grace, if you would please?"

The young kit gave a slight nod before looking at her friend and said, "Nick thought it would be a good idea your parents renewed their vows instead of the two of you getting married today."

Judy was silent for a few seconds before saying, "That's perfect. But outside of my parents killing you for this, how are you going to pull it off?"

"If you mean I need someone on the inside, I've had that for the past month," he said as his smile widened, "And both think it is a great idea."

"Both?" the three females asked looking at him.

"Both," he said as they heard a double knock on the door, "And they're right on time." Everyone looked over as the door slowly opened.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Judy asked shocked, "You two are his insiders?"


	12. Chapter Twelve: Revelations of the Past

Chapter Twelve:

Revelations of the Past…

Chief Clawson wasn't happy as he entered one of the observation rooms in Precinct Three. It wasn't that often that he watched a suspect get interrogated, but this was a little personal. "Why is she here?" he asked looking at two of the three officers on loan to him from Precinct One.

"She's here because of comments she said about Grace," Officer Grizzoli replied looking at the polar bear commander, "And before you ask, she asked to talk to an officer about something."

"Is that so?" Clawson asked crossing his arms, "So which of you is she going to talk to?"

"That would be Delgato," Fangmeyer said motioning towards the glass, "And it's show time." The three looked over to see the lion enter the room.

"Sorry about the wait," Delgato said before sitting down.

"Its fine," a light brown hare said trying to stay calm.

"Ok. Well Officer Delgato." he said looking at her.

"Nice to meet you, Officer, I'm Victoria Tenant," she said returning his gaze.

"So, what would you like to talk about?" he asked.

She let out a slow breathe before saying, "A few things actually; the first being about Grace and Laura Locksley. While it's no secret that my family has treated the two harshly; unfortunately my grandparents are to blame for that. They believed that no mammal can be trusted and if you deviate from tradition, then they are to be excommunicated from the family."

"And that is what happened to your brother?" he asked leaning on the table slightly, "He broke that tradition by marrying a predator."

"No," she said with a slight shake of her head, "He was excommunicated because he quit the family business to start a detective agency. Because of how good or species is with multiplying, he make some of the best accountants imaginable. But he never wanted to be that. His dream was an officer of the law, but until Judy Hopps became a cop, he didn't think it was possible."

"So becoming a private eye was the next best thing for him?" he asked.

"Because it allowed him to help put away those that tried to take advantage of others yes," she answered, "As much as I thought he was crazy for wanting to do that, I secretly cheered him on. Even when he was supposed to be going over the figures for different clients, he would be able to pick up on things about them no one else in the office ever knew.

"For example: one of the employees walked in one day extremely happy. No one had even come close as to the source of her good mood till he got there. He looked her over once and started rattling different things off about her like he was Sherlock Hound. We found out more about her in twenty seconds than anyone else had in the five months of her working there. Clear up until the day we lost him; he would only smile and walk away when asked how he knew she was pregnant. It was stuff like that out grandfather hated."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked a little puzzled.

"It's because I think my brother was murdered," she said looking at the lion, "There was a chinchilla my grandfather would go to when he wanted someone to disappear. His name was Victor."

"Do you have any proof?" Delgato asked. Victoria reached into her purse and placed a USB drive on the center of the table.

"That drive contains over four hundred emails between my grandfather and Victor," she said sounding disgusted, "It also has images sent from Victor of the mammals he made disappear."

Back in the observation room, Grizzoli looked at Clawson and said, "I know of the mammal she's talking about, sir. Victor Abbe-Roth, he's a known hit-mammal for hire. Precinct Two has been tracking his location for a few months now."

"Is there anything else on it?" Delgato asked picking up the drive.

"The other two things I'm here to talk about," she said with a frown, "The Company has been helping a few certain mob bosses hide money for the past ten years. That drive contains the actual records and the off shore account numbers as too where those funds are hidden. As well as emails between Grace's former principal and my grandfather concerning a forced dye job come of the students did on my niece. And yes, I'm pressing charges against every mammal involved in that."

The door to the interrogation room opened as Clawson walked in. "Why now?" he asked glaring at the hare, "Why are you acting like a caring aunt when you never have in the past?"

"Because last night, my grandfather decided that everything that reminds him of my brother needs to be erased from Zootopia," she said looking at the head of Precinct Three, "The only thing left is Grace herself, I will not let that happen; especially for some stupid treasure."

"What treasure?" he asked.

"About two months ago, he received a email about a treasure belonging to the legendary Robin Hood," she started to explain, "Supposedly, it was worth more than all the money in Zootopia and the person that found it was willing to split it with however killed the last descendants of the infamous archer. After a little research, it was discovered that Laura and Grace were the last two direct descendants alive."

"And now Grace is the only one that stands between your grandfather and a massive fortune," Clawson said.

"Wait a minute," Delgato said looking at the hare, "According to the legends, Robin gave the money he stole back to the poor."

"True, but both he and Maid Marian where nobles," she said turning her attention to the lion, "The combined value of their fortune would be astronomical."

"Ballpark it," Clawson said.

"Factoring the current financial trends and gold prices," Victoria said before drumming her fingers on the table for a second, "It would bankrupt the city seven times over if the owner cashed all of it in today."

Clawson slowly turned his gaze to Degalto and said, "Get that flash drive down to the techs and have them look it over ASAP."

"Sir," the lion said before leaving the room.

"Grizzoli, Fangmeyer, contact Precinct Two and get Victor's location," Clawson said looking at the other two officers, "I want him behind bars yesterday." The bear gave a curt nod before he and Fangmeyer stepped from the room.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, Chief, but where is Grace?" Victoria asked a little worried.

"Both Grace and Officer Wilde were placed into police protection after it was discovered that Laura was murdered," he answered shifting his gaze towards her, "As it stands, no one knows their current location or how to contact them."

"Until that psycho that wants her dead is found, you better make sure they stay hidden," she said sounding worried, "I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened her."

Clawson walked over and sat in the chair across from her before saying, "Tell me more about the excommunication thing."

"Go against the family norm and you no longer exist," she said closing her eyes, "All photos, awards, anything that indicates who your family is; gets destroyed. Every bank account that is set up for you is drained of any funds. My brother emptied his accounts and placed his money in new ones that were out of our grandfather's reach. He excommunicated himself before it was done to him.

"And before you ask; my grandfather is a mobster, but he specializes in information and blackmail. There isn't a secret he won't exploit to get what he wants. And he keeps every one of those secrets on a two terabyte USB drive." She reached into her purse and pulled out a large box. "Its password protected, unfortunately the password is the word 'money' repeated three times, all lower case," she said placing the device on the table, "But you didn't here that from me."


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Where Does the Fox Hid

Chapter Thirteen:

Where Does the Fox Hide…

"Grace, where is Nick hiding?" Bonnie asked looking at the young kit.

"I haven't seen him since the end of the wedding," Grace said sinking in her chair a little, "Is he in trouble?"

"No, I just want to talk to him," Bonnie said before walking off.

Grace waited till her friend's mother was far enough away before whispering, "I think you made her mad, Nick."

The red fox poked his head out from under the table she was sitting at and smiled saying, "But it's a happy mad."

"I wonder what is going to happen when she finds you," she said with a slight giggle.

"Let's not and say we did," he said before ducking back under the table. Grace shook her head slightly and looked back at the dance floor. Nick's plan had gone off without a glitch. The only down side had come afterwards when it was revealed as to who's idea it was. It was at that point that the Hopps family's favorite fox had gone into hiding; largely because of how he was able to pull everything off.

"Are they serving food yet?" he asked lifting the edge of the table cloth slightly.

"They are, but I think you have to walk in a line to get it," she said looking over towards where the food was.

"And Grace will not be getting you food, Slick," Judy said setting a plate in front of the young kit before sitting next to her, "And mom is looking for you anyway."

"Thus the reason I'm hiding," Nick said before slowly slipping out from under the table slowly, "I'll be back."

As he walked over to the buffet line, Grace looked at her friend and asked, "Do you think your mom will find him?"

"Oh she will," Judy said watching her partner, "The fun part is going to be how close he comes to getting caught; for instance." She motioned over towards the table and giggled slightly. Grace looked over and smiled as she saw that Nick was standing behind Bonnie in the buffet line.

"I do wonder what Bonnie is going to do to him," Grace said before munching on a carrot stick.

"Besides give him a massive hug?" Stu asked sitting at the table, "She wants the names of his insiders. Speaking of which…"

"Trust me, dad. You will laugh your head off when I tell you," Judy said before she saw her mother grab her partners left ear, "And she got him." The three tried not to laugh as they watched Nick being dragged over towards them.

"Judy dear," Bonnie said as she pushed Nick into a chair, "Can you make sure that Nick _doesn't_ run off?"

"I would but I don't have my pawcuffs with me," Judy said trying not to laugh.

"Save that kind of behavior for private, young lady," Stu said walking over to his wife.

"Now Nicholas, I want the names of every mammal that helped you pull this off," Bonnie said crossing her arms.

"Funny thing about that," Nick said with a nervous laugh, "There were only two that helped me."

"Is that so?" she asked looking briefly at her husband before turning her attention back to the fox, "Who?"

"It was their idea," he said pointing over towards the one table. As the married couple looked over; Stu couldn't help but laugh as he saw his daughter, Jenny, sitting there with the very mammal she was supposed to have gotten married to the day before. "And just so you know, she's actually been seeing someone else," Nick quickly said as he tried to slide out of his seat.

"Move and I will cut off your tail, Nicholas," Bonnie said before motioning for the other two to join them.

"Yes ma'am," he said quickly sitting back in the chair. Grace tried not to giggle as she watched the other two walk over.

"Happy anniversary, mom and dad," Jenny said giving each of them a hug, "Sorry about not telling you what was going on earlier, but I wanted this to be a surprise."

"Its fine, Jenny, just answer me two questions," Bonnie said returning the hug, "Who all knew and why is Evan here?"

"Actually mom, you know me," Evan said before taking a napkin and wiping what looked like floor off his face to reveal gray fur.

"Danny?" Bonnie, Stu and Judy asked surprised.

"In the fur," Danny said with a slight laugh holding his arms open. The three walked up and gave him a hug each before Bonnie smacked him in the arm.

"You mean to tell us that you've been Evan this entire time?" Bonnie asked sounding extremely cross.

"It was her idea," Danny said pointing at his sister.

"No, it was Nick's idea," Jenny said holding her hands up.

"What?" Bonnie asked glaring at the fox.

"Wait a minute, every bunny needs to calm down," Nick said looking at each bunny in turn, "Let me explain; Judy made that comment during a day off a couple months ago that your wedding anniversary was coming up and she wasn't sure what to get you. She also told me how your original wedding didn't go off as planned, so I thought why not create the perfect wedding for you two. I couldn't tell Judy because she was busy helping Jenny with her wedding in her free time."

"And I believe this is where I come in," Jenny said walking over to her sister's partner, "You see; about the time this was happening, the actual Evan I was supposed to be marrying was picked up by ZPD for the back kit support and polygamy. I tried to call Judy to tell her the wedding was off and got Nick instead. That was where we came up with the idea of doing an ambush wedding renewal ceremony for you and dad. I asked Danny to lend a hand sense he was the only one to actually meet Evan."

"Trust me, dad, you would've been using that Fox Taser of yours on him," Danny said with a slight shudder, "He was a real sleaze ball."

"Anyway," Jenny said with a roll of her eyes, "We originally planned to have Nick to suggest you two renewing your vows today. But I think the look on Judy's face was better when Grace suggested the two of them get married instead."

"I see," Bonnie said wiping a tear from her eye, "Outside of thank you, there is one other thing you didn't count on."

"And that would be me," Maria said walking up holding a piece of paper and what looked like a Fox Taser, "Remember when I asked you and Judy to sign something shortly after I arrived, Nicky?"

Nick's ears flattened against his head as he asked, "You didn't?"

"Oh I didn't sign anything," she said smiling, "Especially a marriage certificate that was mixed in with a small stack of papers from the ZPD. But you two sure did without checking what you were signing."

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers," Judy whispered as her ears lowered.

"Please tell me you haven't filed that yet," Nick said as his eyes went wide.

"I would have to go back to Zootopia to fill this," Maria said holding the piece of paper up.

The two officers let out a slowly sigh of relief until Grace asked, "Couldn't you fax to Zootopia?"

"But who would I fax it to?" Maria asked with a shrug, "Should it go to your boss, or the mayor's office?"

"You could fax it to Daniel," Grace said smiling, "He usually takes care of things like that. Granted, you're going to have to wait till tomorrow unless you can give it to the license office here."

"Or she could have me fax it to Clawhauser asking him to take care of it for me," Nick said quietly.

"You did what?" Judy asked not sure if she heard her partner right.

"Have Nick fax a marriage certificate to your friend Clawhauser and have him file it and bring the confirmed one with him today," Maria said smiling, "It's called a hustle, sweetheart. You didn't think Nick was a natural did you?"

"Oh I like her," Grace said smiling.

"That makes two of us," Danny said sitting next to the young kit.

"But why does she have a Fox Taser?" Grace asked looking at Judy's sibling.

"Glad you asked that, Grace," Maria said holding the Taser up, "You really can't have a wedding reception without an _actual_ wedding."

"You're actually going to have me and Judy get married today?" Nick asked surprised.

"Replace you with we," Bonnie said smiling, "I mean, everyone did come here to see a wedding. Not a renewal of vows."

"Are you sure the minister is still here, mom?" Nick asked as he started to smile, "Let alone if he will marry a interspecies couple?"

"If he won't I will," Danny said holding a paw up.

All eyes looked at the bunny as Stu asked, "I thought you were a firefighter, Danny?"

"Still am, dad," his son assured him, "The chief's daughter went to get married and neither her nor her husband could find a minister they liked. So I went and got ordained by the city."

"A fire fluff marrying two cops," Jenny said with a slight laugh, "Oh this is going to be fun."


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Bogo

Chapter Fourteen:

Bogo…

"Let me get this straight," Bogo said as his gaze shifted between his two smallest officers, "The wedding you two were supposed to attend was actually a vow renewal ceremony that turned into you two actually getting married. Is that correct?"

"Yes sir," Judy said nervously.

"I see," the Cape buffalo said with a nod, "And it was Officer Wilde's mother that made you two sign the marriage certificate and be married by one of Officer Hopps's brother's, who just so happens to be a firefighter as well as an ordained minister."

"Technically sir, she didn't have us sign it," Judy started to say.

"I do not care," Bogo said cutting her off, "Do you realize what you've done? Let alone the position you've put yourselves in?"

"In all fairness, sir, this was not planned at all," Nick said as Grace walked over.

"Shut your mouth, Wilde," Bogo said turning his attention towards the fox.

"Are you always this mean?" Grace asked looking up at the police chief. All eyes looked down at the young kit surprised.

"Excuse me?" Bogo asked.

"I was just wondering if you always this mean," Grace said looking at him, "You didn't act like that when we first met, this isn't Zootopia, and none of you are on the clock; right?"

Nick leaned towards his partner slightly and whispered, "She does have a point."

"Shut up," she whispered elbowing her partner in the gut.

Bogo knelt in front of the young kit saying, "You are correct about all of that, Ms. Locksley. But while we are off the clock, they are still my officers. What they did is against protocol."

"But as long as what they do off the clock stays off the clock, then what is the problem?" she asked.

"The problem is that if their relationship starts to interfere with their work, I would have to separate the best team the ZPD has had in a long time," he replied.

"Ok, but why are you treating them like they're on the clock?" she asked tilting her head to the side, "You told Nick that he was on vacation following my mom's funeral."

"Old habits unfortunately," he replied with a slight smile, "These have a tendency to take massive risk when it comes to their job."

"Maybe this will cause them to stop taking those risk," she said with a slight shrug.

"I hope you're right," he said before looking at the newlywed couple, "It also doesn't help that I lost a fifty dollar bet to Clawhauser."

"What was the bet for?" Judy asked.

"Whether or not you two would get engaged before getting married," he replied standing up, "He said you would skip the engagement and do this."

"But Nick asked Judy to marry him the two days ago," Grace said.

"Yeah, he did," Judy said at her boss's bewildered look.

"I was originally planned on asking after her after her parent's reception today," Nick said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Sure you did," Bogo said as he stood up, "If your personal life starts to interfere with your job, you will be getting new partners. Is that clear?"

The two officers saluted him saying, "Yes sir."

"Good," he said before looking towards where the reception was going on, "Now if you excuse me, I need to have a talk with Clawhauser."

"Hate to be Clawhauser right now," Nick said as he watched Bogo walking away.

"Yeah, and I don't believe you stepped in like that, Grace," Judy said looking at the kit.

"That makes two of us," Grace whispered as her body started to shake slightly. Nick didn't say a word as he gently picked the young kit up and held her close.

"It's ok, Grace," he said quietly, "Just relax."

"Grace, are you ok?" Judy asked worriedly.

Grace started to relax before her entire body tensed up as they heard a familiar voice ask, "Why didn't you tell me he purposed?"

"Stall him," Nick whispered before walking towards the reception area. Once he was far enough away, he carefully sat Grace in a chair and said, "Kind of need to breathe, Grace." The young kit slowly loosened her grip from around his neck.

"Sorry," she said leaning back in the chair.

"It's ok," he said before pulling a chair over and taking a seat, "And Judy is dealing with Clawhauser. Feel any better?" She slowly nodded as she rested her forehead on his shoulder. He was quiet for a few seconds before softly asking, "Judy was right about a cheetah bullying you, wasn't she?"

"Unfortunately," she whispered before lifting her head off his shoulder, "My cousins hired some of them to dye my fur while they watched."

"So, you're more afraid of certain felines then cheetahs?" he asked.

She nodded slowly and said, "I'm sorry. Your friend does seem like a nice mammal though."

"And maybe one day you'll be able to find out how nice for yourself," he said as he noticed Judy walking towards them, "So how upset was Clawhauser?"

"Depends on what the topic is," the bunny said pulling a chair up, "He's more upset about Grace being bullied the way she was than the money."

"He's worried about me?" Grace asked surprised.

"Well you are the sweetheart of Precinct One," Nick said looking at the young kit, "But seriously, Ben has always had a soft spot for kits. He's kind of an overgrown kit himself."

"Yet, he did ask two questions I'm not sure how to answer," Judy said a little nervously, "The first being where are we going to live."

"You'll live with me and Nick," Grace answered with a slight smile.

"Its five minutes from our job and the place is huge," Nick assured his partner, "What was the other question?"

"What are we going to do for a honeymoon?" Judy said as a slight blush crept across her face.

Nick's eyes went flat against his head as he asked, "A honeymoon?"

"I suggest that you don't tell him that answer," Bogo said sitting next to Judy, "Let alone certain details of what you two do during it."

"Good idea," the two officers said together.

"Um, so what happens now?" Grace asked quietly.

"As of now and for the next two weeks, that is up to you three," he said looking at her, "Both Wilde and Hopps are on vacation. If they want to stay here or go somewhere else, that is up to them."

"Just so long as no one else at the precinct knows," Judy said with a slightly evil grin.

"What are you up to, Carrots?" Nick asked noticing the look in her eyes.

"I think we all would like to know that, Hopps," Bogo said as his gaze shifted to the bunny.

"Actually sir, it's Wilde," Judy said smiling as she looked at her husband out of the corner of her eye, "As far as what I'm thinking; I was just wondering if the others will notice the change."

Nick laughed a little before looking at his wife saying, "Oh this is going to be so much fun."

"I'm not sure if I should be scared or not," Grace said as her gaze shifted between the newlywed couple.

"Don't be, this is normal for them," Bogo said with a slight smile, "You'll get used to it. Anyway, before I forget; Delgato asked me to delivery message to you, Grace. He thought you might want to know that changes have been filled against every animal that dyed your fur a month ago."

"Who filled the charges?" Nick asked looking at his commanding officer.

"The same person that asked what this was delivered to Grace," Bogo said handing the young kit a small wrapped box, "They also asked that you open that in private, but it's up to you if you do."

Grace was quiet for a few seconds before she asked, "Who is it from?"

"Your aunt Victoria," he answered, "Chief Clawson had it checked to make sure it was safe. She also gave him a few leads they are currently working on."

"That's… a little unexpected," Nick said a little surprised. Grace looked down at the box and started to carefully unwrap it. The others watched as the paper fell away revealing what looked like a wooden jewelry box with a designed carved into the lid.

"That looks like an arrowhead," Judy said leaning over slightly to see the box.

"Mom told me about this once," the young kit whispered as she slowly slid her paw over the lid. She pressed down on the design lightly before opening the lid. Inside was what appeared to have an envelope addressed to her.

"You ok, Grace?" Nick asked watching her. Grace shook her head as she closed the box.

"Why did she have this?" Grace asked looking at the Cape buffalo.

Bogo pulled out an envelope saying, "Because according to her, everything in that box belongs to you. She was asked to hold on to it till now."

"Who asked her to hold on to it?" Judy asked.

"Grace's father," Bogo replied glancing at the bunny before looking back at the young kit, "He asked that it be given to you on your ninth birthday. Your aunt has been guarding that ever since he passed. She also said that there is an envelope in there that should explain some things."

A tear slowly slid down the young kit's cheek before she placed the box on the table then said, "I didn't think she knew when my birthday was."

"From what Grizzoli told me, she never forgot," he said calmly, "She would either mail a card or some sort of gift to you."

"She did?" she asked sniffing back tears.

He nodded slightly saying, "Didn't you ever wonder who Aunt Vickie was?"

Judy gently reached over and pulled the young kit into her arms as she started to cry.

"I have a feeling that I'm going to need to talk to Grizzoli about a few things when I get back," Nick said before looking at his boss, "But are you sure Grace's birthday is today?"

"It's tomorrow, actually," Bogo said looking at the fox, "But I thought it would be best to bring Victoria's gift with me today."

"Thanks chief," Nick said standing up, "Now if you will excuse me, I'll be right back." He walked over to where his mother was talking to Judy parents. "Sorry to interrupt," he said placing a paw on his mother's shoulder, "But I kind of need a big favor."

"How big and is it legal?" Bonnie asked a little leery

"It's completely legal," he said holding his paws up, "I just found out from Bogo that Grace's birthday is tomorrow."

"You're kidding?" his mother asked surprised.

"No, but that's not all," he said looking at her, "Unfortunately, it will be her first birthday without her actual mother. I know this is short notice but…"

"You want to throw Grace a small birthday party tomorrow?" Stu asked finishing the fox's thought, "As long as you don't mind it being a normal Hopps style birthday party, we'll make sure it's one she remembers."

"And I promise we won't go overboard," Bonnie said.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Pawpsicles

Chapter Fifteen:

Pawpsicles…

It wasn't until the sun had set that the reception had started to whine down. While most had offered to stay to help with cleanup, some like Chief Bogo had to leave because of work the next day. Once the last of the guest had left, Grace could only watch in amazement as Judy's siblings took care of the cleanup. While it didn't take long for it to get down, some of the older kits had to take the younger ones to bed for they had started to dose off. Unfortunately, sleep seemed to be contagious as she nodded off shortly afterwards.

Come the following day, things seemed to return to normal at the Hopps farm like nothing had happened. Once everyone was done eating breakfast; the younger of the bunnies went to school, the older ones either helped on the farm or went to whatever job they had. Something was strange was that Grace wasn't sure what to do. Fortunately enough, she did have long to think about it when Nick was having her help him with a project.

His project turned out to be making frozen popsicles. Granted it took the greatest part of the morning make them, Nick assured her that the reaction to them would be worth it. Yet as lunch was drawing near, she couldn't help but feel unhappy about something. Nick didn't bother asking her what was wrong for he figured he knew what was wrong.

As he finished putting the last of the Popsicle molds into the freezer, he looked over at her and asked, "Are you having fun, Grace?"

"I guess," she said with a slight shrug.

"Ok, so what do you want to do now?" he asked walking over to her.

"I don't know," she said looking down at the table.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what did you and your mom used to do on your birthday?" he asked sitting next to her.

"We went to a museum last year," she said quietly as a tear slowly slid down her cheek, "What do you and your mom do?"

"We had dinner together at a nice restaurant last year," he said as he smiled slightly, "But when I was younger, we would always go see a movie at the local cinema and have dinner afterwards." He looked towards the freezer for a few seconds before saying, "I'd tell you happy birthday, but I know happy is something you're not right now."

She leaned against him saying, "I wish you hadn't saved me."

He looked down at her in shock before asking, "Why do you say that?"

"Because I would be with my parents," she said as she started crying. He carefully slowly slid off his seat and wrapped her in a gentle hug. "I want my mom," she cried against his chest.

"I know, Gracie, I know," he said as he gently stroked her head, "But there ae somethings in this world we can't control, death is one of them. The only things we can do is try and keep the memory of those we lost close to our hearts." She wrapped her arms around his waist and her sobs slowly stopped. "Feel any better?" he asked looking down at her.

"Getting there," she said with a weak smile. A welcome silence filled the room as he held her. "I wish you were my dad," she whispered closing her eyes.

"According to the courts, I am you dad," he said looking down at her, "But whether I am or not is up to you."

"I know Nick," she said before they heard the kitchen door open. They looked over to see Judy walk in covered in sweat.

"Hot enough for you, Carrots?" he asked with a smirk.

"Shut it, Nick," his mate said grabbing a glass. She filled it with water and downed it before refilling the glass. "So, how come you two are in here and not outside helping?" she asked before taking a drink.

"Oh but we are helping," Nick said walking over to the freezer. He took a orange popsicle out and held it up saying, "I think you remember these. And yes, Grace and I made enough so everyone can have at least three."

"And you two are life savers," she said with a tired sigh.

"Sweaty bunny," he said handing the frozen treat to her.

"Clever fox," she said before munching on it, "Oh this feels so good."

"Can I have one?" Grace asked looking at Nick.

"One apple flavored Pawpsicle coming up," he said before getting said treat from the fridge, "Here you go."

"Thank you," she said taking aforementioned treat and stuck it in her mouth.

"What are you three doing?" they heard a voice ask from the doorway.

"Just making sure there are some frozen treats for the hard working bunnies, mom," Nick said looking over at his mother.

"It better not be just the bunnies that get one of those," Maria said noticing the popsicle Grace was munching on.

"Nick and I made enough so everyone could have at least three," Grace said looking at the vixen.

"A freezer full of five different flavors," he said leaning against the kitchen counter, "Apparently, some of Judy's siblings got a little overzealous making juice for the wedding yesterday and made too much."

"So you used the extra to make those," she said smiling.

"With the help from my assistant," he said motioning to the young kit, "As well as a set of molds I brought with me."

"First time Nick came here, he brought a couple of molds and showed some of my younger siblings how to make these," Judy said before tossing the popsicle stick in the sink, "Not only were they a huge hit with everyone, dad let Nick sell some of them at our stand at the Carrot Days fair. We sold completely out of everything once word got out about the Pawpsicles."

"How big of a hit are they?" Maria asked a little surprised.

"Stu threatens to use his Fox Taser on me if I don't make a batch when I visit," Nick replied.

"He better not," Grace huffed before tossing her popsicle stick in the sink.

'I agree," Maria said with a nod, "So what flavors do you have?"

"There's cherry, grape, carrot, blueberry, and apple," he said ticking off the flavors on his paws, "Plus there are a set of strawberry ones that are freezing right now."

"How many do you two plan on making?" Judy asked a little surprised.

"At least one more batch," he replied before pointing at three large jars of juice, "Clawhauser brought some pineapple juice with him yesterday and let your mom have it."

"At least it's not coconut," Maria said with a slight shudder.

"Ewww," Grace said.

"My thoughts exactly," Maria said sitting next to the young kit, "So when are you going to let everyone know you did this, Nick?"

"As soon as Bonnie gives me the ok," he replied gently pulling Judy into his arms.

"Nick, no, I'm covered in sweat," Judy said trying to push him away.

"To quote the chief, 'I don't care'," he said before stealing a kiss.

"You better get out of my kitchen if you two are going to do that," Bonnie said as she entered.

"We're not doing that till we get home," he said giving his mate a hug, "And there is enough made right now for everyone to have at least three."

"If that's true then why haven't you called them?" she asked looking at her son in-law.

"Was just waiting for your ok, Bonnie," he said smiling, "And if you wanted me to hand them out before or after lunch."

"I want you to load the portable freezer into the back of the truck and drive them out to were Stu and the others are while I get lunch ready," she said tossing him a set of keys.

He caught the keys before giving his mate another kiss then said, "You got it, Bonnie. Come on, Grace."

The young kit hopped off her seat as Judy said, "Actually, could I borrow Grace and the truck for a while? I wanted to take her to lunch and get to know her better."

"Just take the cruiser," he said looking at her, "The keys are on the nightstand in my room. But it's up to Grace if she wants to go."

"I'll get them," Grace said before running from the room.

Bonnie waited a few seconds before saying, "Bring Grace back about dinner time, Judy. That should give us enough time to get everything ready for tonight."

"And please do not go overboard tonight," Nick said sounding a little worried.

"I promise, Nicky. We won't," Maria assured her son.


	16. Chapter 16: This Is Small For Bunnies

Chapter Sixteen:

This Is Small For Bunnies…

Bunnyburrow was like nothing Grace had ever seen before. No one was in a rush. There was no traffic congestion. But more importantly, everyone was so friendly. No one cared what kind of animal you were. It was paradise as far as she was concerned. What made it even better was she was having lunch with her now stepmom.

As Nick had suggested, Judy had driven the cruiser to a nearby restaurant for lunch. After placing their orders, the two started taking turns asking each other questions. While the questions were centered mostly about what the other liked, there was the occasional one that unexpected. The first question like that was Judy would ever want to leave her home for according to the young kit it was perfect. At first; it had thrown the bunny for a loop, but she rebounded quickly by explaining that if she hadn't then she never would've met Nick.

Once they had finished eating and done a little bit of window shopping, they started to head back to the farm. The drive back gave them a chance to continue their question game. By the time they pulled into the drive, they were so wrapped up in it that they almost hadn't noticed the sky was growing dark.

"So much for a sunny day," Judy muttered as it started to rain. She parked the vehicle as close to her family home as possible before they ran for the porch. Even running just from the cruiser to the house left them both completely soaked.

"Oh that's cold," Judy said with a slight shiver. Grace had no more the nodded in agreement when they heard the front door open. She looked over and saw Bonnie walk over to her before wrapping her in a towel.

"You two look like a couple of water logged bunnies," she said ushering the two inside.

"I'm cold," Grace said as her teeth started to chatter.

"Then let's get you two warmed up," Bonnie said smiling gently at the young kit.

"Allow me, mom," Judy said before sneezing.

"Did I just hear a sneeze?" Nick asked walking up carrying a towel.

"You wish you heard a sneeze," she replied as Grace suddenly sneezed.

"Uh-oh, I think whatever you have is starting to spread, Carrots," he said before looking at his mother in-law, "Excuse me, Dr. Hopps, could you please take of our younger patient there while I try and make sure this trouble maker is ok?"

"Not a problem, Dr. Wilde," Bonnie said playing along, "This way, Grace." The young kit smiled as she followed the bunny down the hall. It felt a little strange to Grace as Bonnie fussed over her; yet it felt strangely soothing. Once her fur was dried and in some fresh clothes and her hoodie, Grace found herself curled up in a corner of one of the couches in the living room. A cup of hot apple cider in her paws as she tried to stay warm.

She took a slight sip and sighed as she started to relax.

"Are you feeling any better, Grace?" Judy asked sitting next to her. The young kit smiled as she nodded slightly. "You look like you're feeling better," Judy said as Nick walked up carrying a mug.

"Carrot cider," he said handing it over to his mate. The bunny smiled her thanks before taking a sip. "So did you two have fun today?" he asked sitting next to his mate.

"Best day ever," Grace said quietly before sipping her cider.

"The days not over yet," Nick's mother, Maria, said as she entered the room followed by Judy's siblings. Everyone quietly took a seat before the lights dimmed slightly. Grace barely had time to register what was going on when she heard something behind her. She looked towards the room's entrance to see Bonnie carrying a small cake with a single candle on it.

"Happy birthday to you," Bonnie softly sang before every started to sing along, "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Grace, happy birthday to you." Judy reached over and carefully took the young kits mug as the cake was moved in front of her. "Make a wish Grace," Bonnie said with a gentle smile.

A single tear fell unchecked as Grace watched the candle. Instead of blowing it out, she reached up and snapped her fingers next to the flame causing it to go out.

"Happy birthday to you too, mom," the young kit whispered as everyone started clapping.

Judy waited until Bonnie had left with the cake before aske quietly, "Today was your mom's birthday?"

"It was one of the things we shared," Grace said looking at her friend, "Can I have my mug back, please?"

"Sure thing, Grace," Judy said handing the mug back.

The young kit gave a slight nod before taking a drink. Judy went to ask a question, but stopped as her parents walked in and started handing out cake and ice cream. Laughter and idle chatter drowned out the sounds of the storm outside. After a few minutes, some of the older bunnies started to pick up the used plates.

"Hey Grace," Stu said as he walked up, "I hope you don't mind but we did get you something."

"You didn't have too," Grace said before finishing her ice cream.

"I know, but we wanted too," he said trading her a wrapped package for her plate, "And I think Maria also got you something too." Grace looked over to to see both Maria and Judy place gifts next to the young kit.

'I asked Nick to pick something up for me while you and Judy went out for lunch," Maria said looking at her grandkit.

"T-thank you," Grace said looking at the package in her hands, "Um, which should I open first?"

"That's up to you, Gracie," Maria said smiling. The young kit sat there silently for a few seconds before she started to carefully open the gift in her hands. Once the last of the paper fell away, she opened the small box inside to find a key on a gold colored chain.

"It's to our front door," Stu said watching her, "Bonnie said that Nick adopted you and since he married Judy, that means you're out grandkit. And I thought what better gift then something to let you know that you're always welcome here."

"I love it," Grace said looking at him with tears in her eyes, "Thanks, Grandpa Stu. Thanks, Grandma Bonnie."

"You're welcome, Grace," Bonnie said before giving the young kit a hug. Grace returned the hug before looking at the key. She carefully set the box to the side before picking up the next gift.

"A certain friend of ours called and said you like mysteries," Nick said as he watched his adopted daughter. Grace's eyes went wide as she unwrapped a book.

"How did you find this?" she asked looking at him shocked.

"Actually, Dillion picked it up on his way home from the local book store," Judy said smiling, "I take it he picked a good one."

"I haven't read this one yet," Grace said before getting up and giving the young rabbit a hug, "Thanks Dillion."

"Y-you're welcome," he said turning a little pink. She let him go and went back over to her seat.

"I think someone might have a slight crush," Nick whispered to his wife. Judy gave him a quick wink before Grace started opening another gift.

"That is from me and Nick," she said as Grace found another book, "It's one of the books I liked when I was your age. I thought you might like it."

Grace slowly slid a paw over the cover before saying, "Mom and I would read a chapter before we went to bed each night and was going to start this the day she passed." She looked at Judy and asked, "Would you mind reading this with me tonight?"

"It would be my pleasure," Judy said before giving the young kit a hug.

"Thank you," Grace said returning the hug before placing it with her other gifts.

"That one is from me," Maria said as the young kit unwrapped another book. Grace flipped it open and was surprised to find it blank. "I used to know someone that would do each entry as if they were writing to someone that passed," the vixen stated, "It helped ease the pain of losing them. I thought you might like something to write your thoughts in when things get too much."

The young kit held the book close as she said quietly, "Thanks, Grandma Maria"

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Jenny said smiling, "I guess there is only one thing left to do."

"Uh no, I don't think so," Nick said looking at the bunny.

"But it is a family tradition," Bonnie said realizing what her one daughter was up to.

"I also ask no going overboard," he said turning to look at his mother in-law, "Plus, it is still raining outside."

"And we do it differently depending on the mammal," Jenny replied.

"Do what differently?" Grace asked a little puzzled.

"This," Dillion said getting up and walking over to his friend, "Grace Locksley, Nickolas Wilde, and Maria Wilde; welcome to the family." He gave the young kit a quick kiss on the cheek before giving his new uncle and grandmother each a hug. A blush barely formed on Grace's cheeks before she started to receive hugs from his siblings one by one.


	17. Chapter 17: The Business of Secrets

Chapter Seventeen:

The Business of Secrets…

"Please tell me you got something, Granger" Chief Clawson said as he entered the room housing Precinct Three's cyber division.

"A plethora of information Chief," a female snow leopard said smiling, "Where do you want me to start?"

"Start with Laura's car," the polar bear replied.

"Ah the opening act, good choice," she said with a nod, "Using the Jam cam's, I was able to trace her car's path from when she first left her home to the time of the accident. She was the only one that touched it all day. So I checked the car's onboard computer and found something. Prior to her going to pick up Grace, her car's GPS did an unscheduled update. That update contained a program that not only shut down the vehicles safety features, but it also turned control of it over to a remote user."

"Are you saying that she didn't have control of her car before the wreck?" he asked stunned.

"Worse, whoever took over the car was the one that caused the wreck," she said with a shake of her head, "Laura's car was shown to speed up seconds before everything went nuts. This leads us to act two: the hacking of the Climate Wall." Granger pointed at a monitor as a picture of a moose popped up. "This is Eric Dahoon. He's in charge of the software that runs the Climate Walls automated systems. According to him, one of the techs received an email from the mayor that morning."

"And that is how the hacker got access to the system," he said looking at the monitor.

"Sorry to say this, but no one hacked the system," she said causing her boss to look at her, "The email contained a virus that caused the system to increase the walls output."

"I'm starting to wonder if Victor is our guy now," Clawson said looking back at the screen.

"Oh he's our guy," she said as the image changed to that of the chinchilla in question, "That drive Grace's aunt bought in proves not only that, but he's behind the disappearance of over fifty mammals across Zootopia. As it stands, Bogo already has a warrant for him and is leading a team to pick him up as we speak."

"Please tell me he has his best with him," Clawson said looking at her.

"His best, Officer's Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are with Grace," she replied as the monitor went black, "But he did call in every SWAT team. But I do have something that you will really like." She brought up an image an elderly white rabbit on the monitor. "I think you know who this is," she said smiling.

"Yeah Augustus Morris," Clawson said with a growl, "What about him?"

"Well, thanks to Victoria's little gift, we not only have enough to arrest him on four hundred counts of illegal wiretap, blackmail, murder, and racketiering," she stated with a massive grin, "Daniel went to a judge that wasn't being blackmailed and we have an arrest warrant for that sad excuse of a rabbit as of ten minutes."

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" he asked glaring at her.

"To build the suspense," she replied with a flip of her hand, "Seriously you have no sense of theater."

"You and I are going to have a talk about the deference between police work and theater," he said before leaving the room. He quickly made his way to the elevator and hit the button as his phone started ringing. "Chief Clawson," he said answering it.

"It's Bogo," the Precinct One commander said over the phone, "Two of my officers are waiting outside your precinct waiting for you. They wanted in on taking down Morris."

"Which two officers?" Clawson asked stopping at his office long enough to grab a set of handcuffs and a Taser.

"Snarlov and Wolfard," Bogo replied sounding a little upset.

"Don't tell me Victor got away," Clawson said heading to the awaiting squad car.

"Swan dived off the roof of the hotel he was at," the Cape Buffalo said in a huff, "My team is checking his room and found out his next target was to be Officer Wilde."

"Please tell me you have him and Grace hid where they can't be found," Clawson said stopping at the door.

"The only one that knows we're those two are is Officer Wilde," Bogo stated, "He said he knew the perfect place to hide and said the less mammals know we him and Grace are, they safer they'll be."

"Smart fox," Clawson muttered before heading out to the waiting patrol car, "Let me know if you find anything. I'll keep you informed on this end."

"Roger that," Bogo said before ending the call.

Clawson got in the cruiser and said, "Snarlov. Delgato. By the sounds of it, you two missed the party."

"Yeah well, we prefer private parties," Delgato said before the vehicle started to move.

"You want the sirens on or off, sir?" Snarlov asked glancing back at the polar bear.

"Leave it off," Clawson said as his phone went off, "I don't want to tip him off just yet." He pulled the device from his pocket hit the button before saying, "Go for Clawson."

"Chief, it's Granger," the snow leopard said over the phone sounding upset, "I did a little more digging on that drive and found a ghost drive. It contains not only the finical records for Morris and his clients, but it has a video of what really happened to Grace's father. This alone will put him away for the rest of his life."

"What happened?" he asked putting his phone on speaker.

"Morris confronted Grace's father about convincing Laura to have an abortion," she said trying to stay calm, "When he refused, Morris ran his own son through with a knife hidden in his cane."

"Are you sure about that, Granger?" Delgato asked stunned.

"As sure as Snarlov took me out for drinks on our last day off," she said.

"And I'm taking you out for dinner on our next one if he still has that cane," the wolf said pulling up in front of the accounting firm.

"I'll hold you too that," she said with a slight laugh, "Now make that piece of trash bunny pay for hurting my Gracie."

"Not a problem, Granger," Clawson before ending the call. The three officers got out and entered the building. "Where's Morris, Eric?" the polar bear said spotting the ferret at the front desk.

"M-Mr. Morris is in a meeting in his office," Eric said sinking in his seat a little, "He left strict orders not to be disturbed."

"Yeah well his nine o'clock just arrived," Clawson said as Victoria came walking up.

"He's not in a meeting," she said with a smug smile, "He's tearing his office apart looking for drive I gave you. Speaking of which, did you find anything useful on it?"

"We found out what really happened to your brother, now where is your father's office?" Clawson replied.

"You'll want that door," she said pointing at a door at the far end of the hall, "His secretary is on break, so go right on in."

"Thank you," Clawson said before him and the other officers went towards the door indicated, "Be ready for anything." As they approached the door, they could hear what sounded like something being knocked over. The polar bear didn't hesitate as he entered the room. "Augustus Morris," he said looking over at a bunny franticly pulling books off a shelf.

"I said no interruptions," the bunny said looking over to find three officers looking at him.

"You're under arrest," Clawson said as Delgato walked over pulling out a pair of pawcuffs.

"Unhand me," Augusts said as the lion cuffed him, "On what grounds?"

"Extortion, blackmail, and murder," Clawson replied.

"You have the right to remain silent," Snarlov said as he started to read the bunny his rights.

"You have no idea who your messing with," Augustus yelled glaring at the polar bear, "Arrest me and my lawyer will bring the entire city to its knees."

""You mean the lawyer that works for the firm?" Victoria said from the doorway, "Because he only helps employees and family. Not those that are excommunicated, like you."

"What are you talking about Victoria?" he asked looking at her, "You don't have the power to excommunicate me."

"I own the company, this building, and everything in it," she retorted, "Including a two terabyte drive you kept all your secrets on. Whereas the only thing you have is the clothes on your back."

"I'm your grandfather," he said shocked at her behavior.

"My grandfather died the day he turned his back on my brother," she said coldly.

"Get him out of here," Clawson said motioning towards the exit.

"Enjoy the walk of shame," she said as the officers escorted the elder bunny from the room.

Clawson waited a few seconds before looking at her and asking, "Walk of shame?"

"The family lines the hallway from that mammal's office to the front door," she said looking at a book on the floor, "As the excommunicated family member walks past, they turn their backs to them one by one. I've already frozen his accounts and informed everyone that the firm will be closing until this matter is closed because of today."

"What are you going to do until then?" Clawson asked.

She smiled a little as she looked up at him and simply said, "Try to repair some bridges."


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Fun and Games

Chapter Eighteen:

Fun and Games…

The days following Grace's birthday seemed to bring about a gradual change in the young kit. She started to open up more to everyone. By the time a week had passed, it felt as if she had been there her whole life. But as the weekend arrived, Grace found herself riding with the rest of the Hopps family heading to into town something called Carrot Days. From what she had gathered, it was an annual festival for the Tri-burrows area.

"Wow," Grace said breathlessly looking around.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Nick asked as he walked with her and Judy, "We can play a game, try our luck with the maze, ride some rides, get something to eat."

"Food after the rides," Judy said looking at her mate, "Remember what happened your first time here."

"Good point," he said with a slight cringe, "Ride first, then food. So what do you think, Grace?"

"Can we do them all?" the young kit asked looking up at him wide eyed, "Please?"

His eye twitched slightly as he pulled his phone out and took a picture of her before saying, "Let's start with one of the rides then." Grace smiled happily as they walked over to the ticket booth.

"Why did you take her picture before answering?" Judy asked as they got in line for one of the rides.

"Because I am never letting you two alone again," he said showing her his phone. On the screen was the picture he had just taken of Grace next to one of Judy with the same expression. "I believe there is a four letter word that starts with a c that I'm not allowed to saw in public that would describe this so well," he said watching his mate.

"And if you say it, I won't save you from the angry mob that will cause," she said looking at him, "But you are right."

"What did you just say?" he asked as he started to smile, "Did you just say I was right?"

"You must be hearing things, Slick," she said before they were allowed onto the ride.

"I heard you say he was right," Grace said finding an empty car.

"Thought so," he said smugly as they got situated.

"Hey Judy, what is this ride called?" Grace asked looking at the bunny.

"It's been called many things, but it's commonly called the Tilt-a-whirl," Judy said as the ride started to move. For the next few minutes, Grace could only laugh as the car swung around as it moved.

"That was fun," Grace said once the ride had come to a stop.

"Glad someone thought so," Nick said as the got up.

"Oh come on. It wasn't that bad," Judy said smiling.

"Says the bunny that isn't happy with regular street patrol," he said glaring at her, "But seriously Carrots, let's go ride that again. Except how about you sit were I was so you have a bolt jabbing you in the side every time you crank the car the one way?"

"Sorry Nick," Grace said softly.

"Hey, why are you apologizing?" he asked looking at the young kit.

"Because you got hurt," she replied looking at him.

"Did I get hurt? No. I didn't," he said with a soft smile, "It was more like getting poked in the side with a pencil constantly. Now, what do you want to do next?"

"Can we play a game?" she asked as Judy's phone started going off.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up," Judy said pulling her phone out. She pressed the accept button as the others walked off before saying, "Officer Wilde."

"This is Chief Clawson with Precinct Three," she heard the polar bear said over the phone, "I was hoping to talk to Officer Wilde about a case."

"If you mean Nick, he's currently playing a carnival game with Grace, sir," Judy said a little surprised as to who was calling, "I'm his wife, Judy."

"Well it's nice to meet you, Judy," he said sounding a little relaxed, "How's Grace doing?"

"She's doing ok," she said smiling a little, "She's actually opened up quite a bit since I first met her."

"You got her to open up?" he asked surprised.

"Possibly," she said with a slight shrug, "I know she was enjoying the birthday party my family put together for her a few days ago."

Clawson was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Officer Wilde, I want you to tell your husband that we caught the mammal responsible for murder of both Grace's mother and father. And when you get back to Zootpia, could you bring Grace by Precinct Three? A lot of the officers here that knew her are a little worried about her."

"Will do Chief Clawson," Judy said looking over at Nick and Grace, "Sir, if you don't mind me asking."

"A rabbit named Augustus Morris," he said with a low growl, "He killed Grace's father because he refused to return to the family business, and caused the wreck that killed her mother for a share of a legendary treasure."

"I'll tell him that part in private," she said after a few seconds.

"Please do, and let Grace know her Uncle Mike says hi," he said before the sound of a door opened on his end, "Enjoy the rest of your vacation."

"Will do, sir," Judy said before ending the call. She walked over to where Nick and Grace were in time to see the young kit get handed a large stuffed fox. "How did she win that?" she asked with a slight laugh.

"She scored three shots dead center in an archer game," Nick said as the three of them walked away, "Who called?"

"Chief Clawson from Precinct Three," she said looking at him, "He wanted to know how Grace was doing."

"Uncle Mike called?" Grace asked looking at the bunny.

"Yup, he told me to tell you hi and we're to stop by when we get back to Zootopia," Judy said shifting her gaze to the young kit.

"Did he say anything else?" Nick asked.

"Just that he wanted to talk to you about a case," she said taking his paw in hers, "Now I don't know about you two, but I'm getting a little hungry."

"I like that idea," Nick said before they started walking towards the food stalls.

"Did he catch who killed my mom?" Grace asked suddenly.

Judy shared a look at her mate before saying, "They got him, Grace."

"Good," the young kit said hugging her fox tight. Nick knelt down and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked before they heard the young kit's stomach growl, "Besides the obvious." She nodded as she tried to hide behind her toy while blushing slightly. "Then let's go eat," he said standing up. After they each got something from the food stalls, they sat down and had just started eating when a red furred vixen sat next to Nick.

"Can I help you?" he asked looking at the vixen.

"I was just wondering what a hot fox like you is doing with a couple of bunnies," she said smiling looking at him.

"I'm eating lunch with my family," he said before going back to lunch.

"Oh come on, you don't have to lie to me," she said leaning over slightly. Nick scooted away from the vixen slightly before they heard what sounded like a low hum.

"Get away from my dad," Grace said pointing what looked like a small Taser at the strange bunny.

"Y-your dad?" the vixen stammered as her ears flattened against her head.

Grace's eyes narrowed slightly as the humming got slightly louder before she said, "My dad, now last warning." The vixen slowly got up and backed away.

"Grace, where did you that Taser?" Judy asked as the humming stopped.

"I don't have a Taser," Grace said placing the device on the table.

"If you don't have a Taser, then what is that?" Nick asked pointing at the device.

The young kit looked at it then at him before saying, "Net launcher."

"If that's a net launcher, then why does it sound like a Taser?" Judy asked.

"Uncle Mike said it's a deterrent," Grace replied.

"Make the person you're pointing that at thinks it's a Taser charging," Nick said with a slight laugh, "That's actually ingenious."

"But how did you get a hold of that?" Judy asked a little worried.

"Mom asked Uncle Ricky to make it for me after my fur was dyed." Grace said looking at her lunch.

"Tundratown PD tech," Nick said before reaching over and placing a paw on the young kits, "And I'm glad you had that with you today."

"You did?" she asked looking at him.

"I was kind of afraid I was going to have to pull Judy off that vixen," he said glancing at his mate.

"Oh and you wouldn't go after some bunny that hits on me?" Judy asked.

"How can I when your brothers are stopping them before I can get a crack at them?" he countered pointing behind her. She looked over her shoulder and watched as two of her younger brothers intercepted a male bunny that had been walking towards her. "Between them and your old friend, Gideon, I'm not being allowed to tell them to buzz off," he said smiling.

"That might be a good thing, Slick," she said looking at him, "Or should I say, Fox-zillia?"

"For the record, you even admitted that was funny, Bunny Kong," he replied with a smug smile.

"Do I want to know?" Grace asked looking from one to the other.

"I'll explain later," Judy said glaring at her mate.


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Something Unexpected

Chapter Nineteen:

Something Unexpected…

It was pushing ten o'clock when the cruiser pulled up to the Hopps residence. While her parents had taken her siblings home hours ago, Judy and Nick had opted to stay a little longer.

"I think we wore her out," Nick said looking in the back sat at the sleeping kit. She parked the car and smiled looking in the rearview mirror.

"She did have fun though," she said in agreement.

"I think we all did," he said with a slight yawn, "I'll get Grace if you want to grab all the stuff she won."

"You sure you can carry her?" she asked.

"I've done it before," he said before the got out of the car. Being as quiet as he could, he carefully picked the young kit up and carried her inside.

"I was wondering when you three were coming home," Bonnie whispered.

"We were having fun," he whispered before heading down the hall. He walked to Grace's door and gently pushed it open. "Bed time, Grace," he said softly.

"Good night," the young kit said sounding sleepy.

He laughed a little as he sat her on the bed and said, "You can sleep after you get changed for bed, Grace."

"I've got her, Nicky," Maria said placing a hand on her sons shoulder.

"Thanks mom," he said looking at his mother briefly before turning his focus back on to his adopted daughter, "Grandma Maria is going to help you get ready for bed, ok?" Grace slowly nodded as she yawned. He lightly kissed her forehead before standing up and said, "Goodnight Grace, night mom."

"Night Nicky," Maria said giving him a quick hug.

He went to leave but stopped as he heard Grace say, "Night dad." He quietly slipped from the room and pulled the door closed. _'Dad,'_ he thought ing at the bedroom door, _'She called me dad.'_ He slowly turned towards the living room and stopped as he saw his mate walking towards him.

"Did you get her tucked in?" she asked trying to hold the assorted prizes that had been won during the day.

"M-my mom said she'd help Grace," he whispered before heading to their room.

"Are you ok, Nick?" Judy asked a little worried following him.

He waited until they were in their room before he quietly said, "She called me dad."

"Who did?" she asked setting the prizes in a chair.

"Grace," he replied sitting on the bed, "I told her that my mom was going to help her get ready for bed. I said good night then went to leave, but stopped as she said night dad."

"She probably called you that because you are the closet thing she has to a father right now," she said walking over to her mate.

"More like ever," he said looking at her, "Grace's actual father died before she was born."

"Murdered from what Chief Clawson told me when he called," she said sitting next to him.

"Did he tell you who did it?" he asked.

"A mammal named Augustus Morris," she said looking at him, "Let me guess, you know him."

"He's Grace's great grandfather on her dad's side," he hanging his head, "We can't tell her this; at least not now."

"When she's older," she said placing a paw on his shoulder, "I love you, my dumb fox."

"Love you too, sly bunny," he said smiling a little. They sat in silence for a few minutes before they started to get ready for bed. Come the next morning, Nick couldn't help but smile as he entered the dining room.

"Morning everyone," he said before sitting next to his mate.

"Good morning Nick," Bonnie said putting a plate of pancakes in front of him, "You look like you slept well."

"Not trying to get myself shaved bald, but it's hard not to when there was a beautiful bunny snuggled up against me," he said stealing a kiss from Judy before he started eating.

"I'm surprised I got any sleep with how clingy you are," Judy said playfully nudging his shoulder.

"Excuse me, I'm not the one that spends more time snuggling with my tail while trying to watch a movie," he said looking at her.

"No, you just try and play with mine when no one else is looking," she retorted.

"Am I going to have to separate you two?" Bonnie asked as Grace entered.

"Yeah dad, quit picking on Judy," the young kit said sitting across from them, "It's bad enough she has to be in the same room with you at night considering how bad you snore."

"Morning Grace," Nick said looking at her as he smiled, "I do not snore."

"Yes you do," Judy and Grace said together.

"What's the rule about arguing at the breakfast table, Judy?" Stu asked looking up from his paper.

"Everyone that argues runs the stand till either everything sells or dinner time," Judy said sinking in her seat a little.

"Does that mean we can't go to the festival?" Grace asked looking at the adults.

"We have to run the stand that we there," Judy said before punching Nick in the arm, "Thanks a lot, Slick."

"You're welcome," he said with a smile as he continued eating.

"I give them an hour before they sell out completely," Bonnie said looking at her husband.

"Who sells out of what?" Maria asked as she walked in.

"Judy, dad and I have to run the stand at the festival today and Grandma Bonnie said she's giving us an hour before we sell out completely," Grace said looking at the vixen.

"If my son is running your stand, they will be sold out in half an hour," Maria said sitting next to her grandkit.

"My blueberry cobbler says you're wrong," Bonnie said placing a plate of pancakes in front of the young kit.

"And I have a peach pie that says I'm right," Maria countered.

"You're on," Bonnie said before the two shook paws.

"I don't believe this," Judy said watching the interaction.

"Which part?" Nick asked looking at her, "Our mom's making a bet as to how fast we can sell out the stand, or that my mom has a peach pie recipe?"

"Both," she replied after a few seconds.

"They both sound good though," Grace said before taking a bite of her breakfast.

"Especially that pie," Stu said a little dreamily.

After everyone was finished eating, everyone loaded up in their assigned vehicle and headed out to the fair. Once they arrived, Grace noticed that some of Judy's siblings were helping Nick carry what looked like a small freezer to the stand.

"Hey dad, what's in the freezer?" the young kit asked walking over to the fox.

"My secret weapon," Nick said patting the freezer after making sure it was hooked up right. She gave him a slightly puzzled look before Judy's father walked up.

"You seriously think you can sell the stand out in under an hour, Nick?" Stu asked looking at the fox.

Nick smiled as he looked at his father in-law saying, "Stu, I can say one word and sell this stand out in less than twenty minutes."

"And the hustler returns," Judy said as she finished getting the stand ready.

"You know you love me," he said looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Do I know that?" she asked playfully returning his gaze, "Yes. Yes I do."

"There's no way you can sell this stand out in twenty minutes," Bonnie said as her and Maria walked up.

"Is that a challenge I hear?" Nick said looking at his mother in-law.

"No offense Nicky, but I'm going to have to agree with Bonnie on this one," his mother said crossing her arms, "You haven't hustled anyone since you became a cop."

"Is that so? Then how about a little side wager," he said as his smiled wider, "If I can sell out the stand in less than twenty minutes, you two have to make both of those desserts tonight. If not, I'll enter the talent show and humiliate myself in front of the entire tri-burrows."

"Deal," the two said together before shaking his paw each.

"So, when is this bet of yours supposed to start?" Judy asked.

"In five minutes," Bonnie said before her, Stu and Maria walked away."

Judy waited a few seconds before asking, "You know they're going to shave your tail when they find out you played them, right?"

"Trust me, Carrots, it will be worth it," he said before pulling out his shades and putting them on.

"Uh dad, how are we going to sell everything?" Grace asked a little worried.

"That, my dear Grace, is what secret weapons are for," Nick said checking the time on his phone.

"You didn't?" Judy asked trying not to laugh.

"By whatever do you mean, Carrots?" he asked looking at her, "Surely you are not implying that I had your siblings make enough of to fill a portable freezer and make a bet with your mom just to get her famous blueberry cobbler. That would be totally dishonest of a upstanding police officer like me."

"And we're both on vacation for another week, drama fox," she said with a slight chuckle.

"What are you two talking about?" Grace asked a little puzzled.

"His secret weapon," Judy said shaking her head.

"Which is?" the young kit asked.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart," Nick said before putting his phone away. Before she could ask what he meant, he took a sign from the freezer and placed it in front of the stand. As he stepped back behind the stand, he noticed that their parents were sitting at a nearby table. "Ready, fluff?" he asked taking his sunglasses off and putting them away.

"Ready when you are Slick," she replied smiling.

He gave her a quick kiss before looking towards the main walkway and yelled, "Pawpsicles! Get your pawpsicles!"


	20. Chapter Twenty: Ten Seconds

Chapter Twenty:

Ten Seconds…

Ten seconds was all it took. Ten seconds after Nick first yelled about pawpsicles, the entire festival came to a sudden stop. What followed was something that would have scared even their boss. Every fair goer from patron to those that ran the rides made a beeline straight for the Hopp's produce stand. The very last item, a small carton of blueberries, was sold with ten seconds left to spare.

But it wasn't just that stand that had sold out. Every single stand that had been set up had sold out completely as well.

"I don't know if we're going to get in trouble for this, or not," Judy said as she looked at all the empty stands.

"Oh you won't get in trouble, Carrots," Nick said with a smug grin, "I will, as well as one other."

"Who's the other dad?" Grace asked as her and Judy looked at him. He gave the two a quick wink as Judy's parents came walking up with his mother.

"You hustled us," Bonnie said in disbelief, "I don't believe it. You actually hustled us."

"Just for a pie and some cobbler," Maria said glaring at her son.

"Oh but that's not the best part," he said pulling his wallet out. Before another question could be asked, the fox took out a card and handed it to his father in-law.

"You were in on this, Stu?" Judy asked trying not to laugh.

"Before you get mad at Stu," Nick quickly interjected, "Originally, I had a bet going with him about whether I could out hustle that bunny Jenny was seeing prior to him getting arrested."

"It was changed to whether or not he could actually lose a bet to you two," Stu said putting the card away.

"And what is on the card?" Bonnie asked sounding upset.

"A hotel stay Judy won about three weeks before she came here," Nick answered quickly, "She wanted to give it to you as your anniversary gift, but we got busy at work and she ended up misplacing the card. I found it under her desk when I reported back to the station after the Climate Wall incident and brought it with me."

"And I made the comment to Nick about wanting to take you somewhere special a couple of nights ago and Nick told me about that card," Stu said taking his mate's paw in his, "It's three days, two nights and Nick said him and Judy could watch the kits for us."

"So the bet was nothing more than which of you got to surprise me with it then?" Bonnie asked smiling a little.

"Well the bet was my mom's idea," Nick said smiling, "She made the comment to me that I should be thankful that Stu never takes me up on a bet because I might just lose."

"So that is what you two were talking about that night," Maria said with a laugh.

"Regardless as to who's idea it was, thank you," Bonnie said before giving each of them a hug, "The only question I have left is when is the stay for?"

"I already called the hotel and they will have the room ready for us when we get there tomorrow," Stu said wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Nick asked me book your tickets two days ago. The train leaves tomorrow morning at eight," Maria said taking two tickets out of her purse and handing them to her in-laws, "Now how about we let these three go have some fun?"

Judy waited until they were alone before asking, "I didn't win a hotel stay did I, Nick?"

"As far as your parents know, you did," he said looking at her.

"Then where did the hotel stay come from?" she asked taking a step towards him.

"Um, I called Daniel and asked if he could set the hotel up for them," Grace said nervously.

"Originally, that card was supposed to be from us for your parent's anniversary," Nick explained, "I thought we could give it to them as our way of letting them know we're together."

"And you never got the chance because of us getting married," Judy finished for him.

"Are you mad?" Grace asked. The bunny scooped the young kit up in her arms and hugged her close.

"I'm not mad, I just wish you had let me know what was going on sooner," Judy said.

"We are sorry about that, Carrots," he said gently wrapping his arms around them, "Things got a little hectic around here."

"That's fine, but I do have one question," she said looking at the love of her live, "How much did that cost?"

"Four thousand, two hundred nineteen dollars and fourteen cents," Grace said almost instantly. The two mammals looked at the young kit shocked.

"Are you serious?" Nick asked surprised, "It cost that much?"

Grace nodded saying, "He said he would explain if asked and not to worry about the cost."

"Oh he's got some explaining to do," Nick said pulling his phone out. He quickly dialed a number and waited for the tiger to pick up.

"Daniel Anderson," the tiger voice came over the phone after a few seconds.

"Hey, it's Nick," the fox said kicking the call on speaker, "I have a question about that hotel room you booked for Judy's folks."

"Denise McClawrin," Daniel said instantly, "Her husband was one of the missing mammals in that case you and Judy cracked three years ago."

"Ok," Nick said looking at Judy, "What does she have to do with this?"

"That's his sister," Grace answered, "Hi Daniel."

"Hey Grace," the tiger said sounding happy, "Nick treating you ok?"

"Yup," she replied smiling, "I think I surprised him and Judy by telling him how much what we set up cost."

"Speaking of which," Judy said speaking up, "Why did that cost so much?"

"I booked the honeymoon suite at the Pawriott hotel and scheduled a tour of the city plus a full spa treatment," he answered.

"And you booked that because we saved your brother in-law?" she asked.

"It wasn't just him you saved," he said solemnly, "You saved both her life and my unborn niece."

"We did?" she asked surprised.

"She was starting to worry she would never see him again and started to sink into a server depression," he stated, "It got so bad that she almost ended up in a hospital on a suicide watch until the baby was born. But once she found out he was found, that snapped her out of her funk. She chose to live, for their child till he was back by her side. Don't worry about the cost of the hotel; I got a great discount once I explained why I needed it."

"Denise and her husband work at that hotel," Grace said laying her head on the bunny's shoulder.

"Tell your sister and brother in-law thanks for us," Judy said giving the young kit a hug.

"Hey Daniel, what did she name her?" Nick asked.

The line was silent for a few seconds before the tiger replied, "Amber Felicity."

"That's a beautiful name, Daniel," Nick said smiling, "We're going to have to get together when we get back to Zootopia."

"Sounds good to me," Daniel said with a slight laugh, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going for court."

"All right, later," Nick said before ending the call. He looked at his mate and kit then asked, "So what do you want to do now?"

"Can we go see the talent show?" Grace asked raising her head.

"I don't see why not," Judy said as one of her younger brothers came running up, "Hey Luke, what's up?"

"There's a problem over at the talent show," the young bunny said trying to catch his breathe.

"Tell us on the way," Judy said setting Grace on the ground.

They started walking towards where the show was being held as Luke explained, "Everyone that signed up for the show are refusing to go on unless either the one withdraws or they get new judges."

"Let me guess; the judges are related to the contestant," Judy said.

"And have let their daughter win for the past five years by letting her model a dress bought in Zootopia," Luke said looking at his sister, "No one wants to see her win again this year; especially with the prize being offered."

"What's the prize?" Grace asked looking at the young bunny.

"The one judge donated an old trunk that is supposed to be from the time of Robin Hood," he answered, "He says there isn't a key, so it's hasn't been opened in centuries." Nick looked over at his brother in-law briefly before pulling out his phone and quickly sent a text.

"Any ideas on how to handle this, Nick," Judy asked as they arrived at the barn.

"Funny you should ask, Officer Fluff," he said putting his phone away, "I have the perfect idea."

"Whatever you have planned, Nick, you're going to want to it action now," Luke said before pulling the door open. The sound of a massive argument met their ears as they entered. Nick barely had time to look at his mate before Grace brought two fingers to her mouth and let loose a sharp whistle.

"Would you all be quiet?" the young kit yelled.

"Thank you for that, Grace," Nick said gently patting her head before looking at the others, "Now, would one of you please explain what exactly all of you are arguing about?"

"This doesn't concern you, fox," one of the rabbits said glaring at him.

"Actually, it does," Nick replied pulling his badge out and showing to everyone, "I'm Officer Nick Wilde, ZPD. This is my partner, Judy Hopps. And before you ask; yes, ZPD jurisdiction extends out this far when there is a possibility of contest rigging."

The rabbit cleared his throat a little nervously before saying, "I can assure you, officer, there is no contest rigging here."

"Yet the same mammal has won this five years in a row," Judy said crossing her arms, "I'm surprised that winner is still allowed to compete after winning that many times."

"She's allowed to compete because two of the judges are her parents," one of the contestants stated.

"Not anymore," Nick said as his phone started beeping, "I will be stepping in for one of the two."

He pulled his phone out and checked it as the one rabbit asked, "Which one?"

"A Mr. Jacob Moriarty," Nick said putting his phone away, "I'll be taking his place while he will be sitting, pawcuffed, to my partner."

"And if I refuse?" Jacob asked sounding cross.

"It's either that or I shut this contest down immediately," Nick said crossing his arms.


	21. Chapter Twenty-one: Hidden Talent

Chapter Twenty-one:

Hidden Talent…

For the first time since it had started, the Carrot Days Talent competition wasn't one sided. Thanks to Nick's quick thinking, each participant had a fair shot at winning the grand prize. Out of twenty-four contestants, Jacob Moriarty's daughter came in ninth while Luke had come in second to a last minute entry. But the biggest shocker came when fellow ZPD Officers McHorn and Delgato had shown up and arrested Moriarty and his wife on murder for hire charges after the show.

"You know there is going to be a ton of paper work waiting for us when we get back, right Carrots?" Nick asked as he watched his fellow officers leave with the Moriarty's.

"Delgato said he would handle the arresting officer aspect," Judy said leaning against him, "All we have to do is fill out a witness statement. But I think we have a bigger problem." The two looked over to see Grace sitting in one of the chairs alone. "I think we better tell her what's going on," she said looking at her mate.

"I got her," he said before walking over. He sat down next to the young kit and asked, "Are you ok?"

She slowly shook her head before asking, "Did he kill my mom?"

"He's the one that put a hit out on you and your mom," he said looking at her, "That one responsible jump off a building before he could be taken into custody."

"Why did he kill her?" she asked as tears filled her eyes.

He let out a low sigh before saying, "Supposedly, he found the legendary treasure of Maid Marion and Robin Hood. Afraid that any of their descendants would try and calm the treasure, he offered half of it to anyone that took them out first. Unfortunately, you and your mom were their last living descendants."

"And now it's just me," she said looking at the floor.

"No," he said lifting her onto his lap and holding her close, "It's you, me, and Carrots; because you are as much our family as we are yours."

"Thanks dad," she said smiling a little.

"You're welcome, Grace," he said returning the smile, "Now, outside of the obvious answer, how come no one told me you could sing?"

She looked at him and quietly said, "Because only my mom knew. Are you mad?"

"Only with myself for not asking sooner," he replied gently patting her head, "You sang beautifully."

"Thanks," she said blushing slightly.

"You're welcome, but what are you going to do with a chest that can't be opened?" he asked.

"Maybe one of Judy's brothers can help me open it," she replied smiling.

The fox gave her a puzzled look before saying, "Unless you know how to pick a lock, I don't see how you're going to too. There's no key, remember?"

"Do you know anyone that knows how to pick a lock?" she asked as Luke walked over and sat next to them.

"Good luck finding the keyhole to do that," the young bunny said with a sigh, "Let alone moving that thing. Feels like it weighs a ton from whatever is inside it."

"Maybe we should've asked McHorn to move it for us before he left," Nick said.

"Nah, it's just like moving that portable freezer," Luke said before turning his attention to his niece, "You, on the other hand, have a beautiful singing voice. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place."

"Thanks Luke," she said blushing again.

"Seriously, I looked at the audience while you were singing and I think you had that big ZPD rhino in tears," he said pulling his phone out and showing her a picture, "See?"

"Ok, Judy and I are going to need a copy of that photo," Nick said before he heard someone behind him clear their throat.

"What photo, Nick?" Judy asked from behind them.

"Luke took a picture of McHorn while I was singing and it looks like he was crying," Grace said looking at her. Judy looked at the pic and started to snicker before placing a hand over her mouth.

"As I said, we're going to need a copy of that pic," Nick said with a slight chuckle, "Now any ideas on how to get Grace's prize home?"

"We might be able to get it in the bed of the pickup, depending on what is in there," Luke said before putting his phone away, "The rest can easily ride in the car with her."

"What all did she win?" Judy asked looking at her brother.

"Besides the chest, she won a trophy and a two hundred dollar cash prize," he said with a sigh.

"You can have the money," Grace said looking at him, "I don't need it."

Luke looked at her a little surprised and said, "Uh, t-thank you."

"You're welcome, Luke," she said smiling.

"Anyway, I think we better see about getting that chest moved before the school presentation," Judy said sitting next to her mate.

"I'll go round up some help," her younger brother said before getting up and leaving.

She waited until he had left the building before looking at Grace and said, "Sweet cheese and crackers, Grace, I didn't know you could sing like that. That was beautiful."

"Thanks mom," Grace said before sudden placing her paws over her mouth in shock.

"Before you freak out completely; I want you to know that I'm not going to stop, or make you call me that," Judy said taking the young kits paws in hers, "The only thing I ask is that you call me what you want to call me."

"Are you sure?" Grace asked as her ears lowered.

"Grace, I know I'll never be able to replace your mother," Judy said smiling gently, "But that doesn't mean I don't love you like you were my own. And I hope that maybe someday you think of me like a second mother."

"But I already think of you as my bunny mommy," Grace said before giving Judy a hug. The bunny sat there for a second before slowly returning the hug.

"Oh you bunnies, so emotional," Nick said smiling.

"Shut it, Slick," Judy said playfully swatting his arm. Grace leaned back after a few seconds and looked at him asking, "But I'm not a bunny, am I?"

"You're part bunny and part fox," he said looking at her, "You're the best of both, which makes you a box."

"Really, Nick? A box is the best you can come up with?" Judy asked dryly.

"It was either that or a funny," he said looking at his mate, "And it doesn't feel right to call her that; a boy maybe, but not a girl."

"He does have a point, mom," Grace said with a slight shrug.

"And none of the other word pairings sound right," he said.

"How about you just call her a WildeHopps for now and figure it out later?" someone asked from behind them. The three turned to find a large number of Judy's brothers moving benches out of the way while one of them slowly backed the truck into the barn.

"Ok, time to move," Nick said before standing up with both Grace and Judy in his arms. He walked over to the side and sat back down on a bench to watch his in-laws work. Once the truck had backed up to the edge of the stage, and an additional five minutes of how to load the chest into the bed, most of the bunnies pushed from the prize onto the waiting vehicle. Everyone couldn't help but cringe as the weight of the chest caused the bed of the truck to sag.

"Hopefully the suspension will hold till we can get it home," Luke said walking up to his sister.

"If not, I know a guy that will fix it for you. No charge," Nick said looking at his brother in-law.

"If you mean Finnick, he may charge food or beer," Judy stated.

"Finnick owes your mom at least four hundred because of his language," he said looking at her, "He'll do the repairs for free in order to erase that debt."

"I know someone that could do it for free," Grace said smiling slightly, "He used to do work on mom's car, I think he wouldn't mind working on the truck."

"Let's see how the suspension is after we get that home before we make any calls," Judy said.

"You're going to want to call them now," Nick said picking up a pebble. Before any other question could be asked, he tossed the small rock at the chest. It bounced off the lid before they heard something snap and the back of the chest slammed into the ground.

"Dad is so going to kill us," Luke said quietly.

"No. Just me," Grace whispered looking at the ground.

"Dad is not going to kill anyone," Judy said giving the young kit a hug, "He's been thinking about getting a new truck for the farm anyway."

"And now he has too," Nick said pulling out his phone, "And I know exactly who to see about a truck."

Judy quickly took his phone before he could hit the dial button saying, "Oh no. You are not calling anyone until you tell me who you're calling."

"Remember the car theft ring we broke up last year that involved that car lot?" he said looking at her, "The one with the lemur owner that said if we ever wanted a car he would give us a great deal. I was calling to see if he meant it."

"If he did, then I know the exact truck to get dad," she said handing the phone back.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two: Mechanics

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Mechanics…

Grace seriously wished she had her hoodie right now. Not because of the weather, but largely because she was afraid of how Stu was going to react about his truck breaking. When he had first arrived, she had tried to hide behind Judy or Nick. Yet neither would let her.

"What happened to my truck?" Stu asked as he saw the family vehicle.

"Grace won the talent contest and was given a chest that caused the suspension to snap," Nick answered calmly, "I called a friend in Zootopia and he said he'd be here to fix in within the hour."

"I'm sorry grandpa Stu," Grace said trying not to cry.

"It's ok, Grace," the older bunny said placing a paw on the young kits head, "Bonnie's been asking me to get a new truck for a while now anyway."

"You sure?" she asked looking up at him.

He nodded as he knelt in front of her saying, "I'm sure, Grace. The only question I have now is how are we going to get this out of the barn?"

"We might be able to tow it out using the cruiser," Judy said looking at her father.

"That would've worked if the back tires hadn't popped," Luke said as he rubbed the back of his head with a paw, "And the rear axle hadn't snapped."

"You're not helping, Luke," Judy said punching her brother in the shoulder.

"Judy, don't hit your brother," Stu said looking at his kits, "Luke, quiet making your sister hit you." Nick walked over to the truck as he snickered.

'Not a word, Slick," Judy said glaring at her mate.

"Did I say anything? No. No I didn't," the fox said as they heard what sounded like a truck pulling up, "And I believe our friend is here." The looked over to see a lemur wearing a ball-cap and overalls carrying a toolbox.

"Stu, Hopps family, I'd like you all to meet Zeke," Nick said a second before the toolbox hit the ground.

"What in the world did you do to that beautiful truck?" The lemur asked walking up to the vehicle.

"Loaded a talent show prize into the back of it," Nick said taking a few steps back. The lemur walked around the truck before whimpering.

"So, think it can be fixed?" Nick asked.

"I should be able to," Zeke said quietly before looking at the fox, "I'll know more when I get it back to the shop, unless the owner wants to do a trade for it."

"What kind of trade?" Stu asked sounding a little intrigued.

"Your truck for one of mine," the lemur said looking at him, "I own a car dealership and body shop in Zootopia; and have a few of the previous year's models still on the lot."

"And you would trade one of those for my truck?" the bunny asked a little surprised.

"Are you kidding? I would trade you one just to be able to fix an old girl like this," Zeke said patting the truck's hood, "But if you mean you want to get rid of her, then I would be willing to give you one of the brand new ones for her."

"Zeke's what some would call a car buff, dad," Judy said with a slight giggle, "He knows more about the older cars than most mechanics now-a-days."

"Which is why he's the go-to lemur for the ZPD," Nick said smiling, "He's proven time and time again that he can fix any vehicle regardless of its condition."

"I know my mom would go to him if she needed work on her car," Grace said smiling a little. The lemur looked at the young kit and froze.

"You ok, Zeke?" Nick asked noticing the look on his friends face.

"Yeah," the lemur said with a slight shake of his head, "Tell you what, I'll take the truck in and get her fixed up on the house. If my team and I can't get her back to you in two days, you keep the loner truck I brought with me for you to use."

"Are you sure about that, Mr. …?" Stu asked

"Call me Zeke," the lemur said holding his paw out.

"Stu Hopps," Stu said giving the mechanic a firm pawshake.

"And to answer your question, I'm sure," the lemur said with a nod, "Now I just need to get it out of here and onto the back of my truck. Glad I brought my jack." He looked over towards the door as a large gorilla entered. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my jack," he said smiling.

"As nice as it is to meet you, I think we better hurry this up," Judy said glancing at her watch, "The local school still needs to do their presentation and it's almost time for it." The gorilla gave a slight nod before walking over to the truck. Everyone watched as the gorilla moved the chest back onto the stage before lifting the back of the truck up to let the lemur inspect the damage.

"Give it to me straight, Doc. How bad is it?" Nick joked trying to keep the mood light.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Wilde, she is going to need some major surgery," Zeke said playing along, "The weight of that chest caused both leaf springs to break and snapped the wheels off the back axle. Luckily though, neither the frame nor the truck's bed is bent, which is really good."

"So how much is this going to cost?" Stu asked.

"Normally this is where I would say some about 'a friend of Nick's is a friend of mine,' then charge half my usual price," the lemur said looking at the bunny, "But as I told Grace's mom after she put the guys away that about cost me everything; you're family, and I don't charge them. And as I said; if I can't fix your truck and get it back to you in two days, you can keep the loner."

"Well thank you," Stu said smiling.

"Hi Mikey," Grace said smiling. The gorilla looked over at her and gave her a slight nod as he smiled before tossing the broken wheels into the bed of the truck.

"Hey Zeke, before you leave, do you think you can take a look at that chest?" Judy asked as Mikey wheeled the truck out, "We got told it doesn't have a key, and I'd like to know why that broke my dad's truck."

"You're going to want to talk to Mikey about that," the lemur said looking at her, "He knows more about locks then I do. But hopefully one of you knows sign language because he doesn't talk due to an injury back in high school." The gorilla lowered the truck to the ground and snapped his fingers to get everyone's attention before making a series of hand gestures.

"Mikey says the lock is on the top of the chest and it takes a special key to open it," Grace said watching the gorilla, "One that's shaped like an arrowhead."

"And I keep forgetting that Grace knows sign language," Zeke said with a slight chuckle.

"Mikey also says he'll load the chest into the back of the loner truck," Grace said translating, "And that the tool is about to get a ticket because he left their vehicle double parked."

"I'll deal with the ticket, you just get the vehicles switched," Zeke said glaring at his partner, "And quit calling me a tool." Mikey signed one last thing before picking up the truck and leaving the barn. "What did he say?" the lemur asked looking at the young kit.

"He said 'Never'," she replied smiling. Judy tried not to laugh as her brothers started moving the benches back. It wasn't until the last one was in place that Mikey walked back in. He handed a set of keys to Stu before signing something then picking up the chest and walking out.

"He said the loner truck is parked next to Nick's cruiser," Grace said leaning against Judy.

"Ok, what kind is it?" Stu asked looking at the keys.

"Yeah, about that," Zeke replied smiling, "We didn't have the exact model that your daughter requested, but I did have the newer model. So I brought that."

"You requested a truck for me?" Stu asked looking at his daughter.

"Mom said you've been looking at the T84 model that came out recently, so I asked Zeke if he could bring one here so you had a chance to drive it," Judy replied with a slight smile.

"And unfortunately, I've been sold out of that one for about the past month," Zeke stated, "But I got a couple of the new T85 models, so I brought one of those instead. Reinforced frame and suspension, four wheel drive, can tow up to four tons, and has a wench on the front bumper with four times the power your current truck has."

"Sounds like the perfect truck for a farmer," Nick said smiling a little, "Too bad you really won't get the chance to use it since you and Bonnie are going on your honeymoon tomorrow."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa," Zeke said looking surprised, "Honeymoon?"

"Second actually," the fox said holding up two fingers briefly, "They renewed their vows for their anniversary last week."

"Then consider the T85 my anniversary gift to you and your wife," the lemur said looking at Stu, "I will still get your old truck fixed and back to you as soon as I can."

"Uh, thank you," Stu said before glaring at Nick briefly, "But are you sure you can afford to do that?"

"I can, and you're welcome," the lemur said before hearing Mikey whistle, "And I have to go. I'll see you once the truck is done."

Grace waited till the lemur had left before looking at Judy and asked, "Hey mom, does dad have a hustle limit?"

"Yeah, three mammals a day," Judy replied looking at her mate, "And he's over by the entire town."


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three: Packing

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Packing…

Nick sighed as he looked at the trunk of the cruiser in amazement. Nine suitcases took up almost all the space available and they still needed to fit the trunk Grace had won in it. Then again, only one of them was his while the rest was divided between the young kit, his mate, and his mother. _'How can one bunny have so much stuff?'_ he thought looking at his mates five suitcases.

"Trying to figure out why I have so many suitcases, Slick?" Judy asked walking up to him.

"Considering five of them are yours," he said looking at her.

"Actually, only four of them are mine," she said returning his gaze, "One of them is a bunch of stuff my siblings won for Grace this past weekend. And if we don't come back for the holidays, they're coming to see us."

"I can think of so many pranks I can pull off if they did," he said smiling evilly.

"What kind of pranks?" she asked.

"Have them all get in Finnick's van when he's not looking so he gets hit with a tidal wave of fluff when he opens the door," he chuckled.

"That is wrong on so many levels," she said with a shake of her head. The two were quiet for a few seconds before she went back to the house saying, "I wonder if mom will let us do that." Nick waited till he heard the screen door close before he busted out laughing.

"You're not right in the head, you know that dad?" Grace asked walking up carrying her stuff carrot and a jewelry box.

"What? I think that would be funny," he said once his laughter subsided, "You got everything, Grace?"

"I think so," she said before placing the two items in the back seat, "Hey dad, do you know how to fix a jewelry box?"

"I know someone that might know how to fix one," he said walking over to her, "Why do you ask?" She looked at him and held up the arrowhead from her jewelry box.

"Because this came off," she said sounding a little sad. He carefully took the piece and looked at it for a few seconds.

"Grace, I think this piece is supposed to come off," he said a few things about it.

"It does?" she asked.

He lowered his hand so she could see saying, "I'm not completely sure about this, but I think this is actually a locket; because if you look at the side here, there appears to be a small hinge."

"Do you think there is something inside it?" she asked looking at him.

"I'm not sure, but I think we might want to wait till we get home before we try to open this," he said handing it back before dropping his voice to a whisper, "Otherwise we're going to have one cranky bunny soon."

"I heard that, Slick," Judy said from behind him. Grace couldn't help but giggle as he gave her a quick 'told you so' look. "Besides, I'm not the cranky one," she said with a slight smirk, "Because I remember a certain coffee incident."

"And that is one of those topics we don't talk about," he said looking at his mate, "Like McHorn and bunny ball."

"Another word and I'm shaving your tail," she said.

"You won't shave my tail because you like it too much," he said turning to face her, "Besides, yours is cuter."

"If you two want dropped off at a motel for the night, just say so," his mother said walking up carrying a small basket, "I would be more than happy to watch Grace for a few days."

"We have a room back at the new place, mom," he said smiling, "Though, we may have you watch Grace for the night." Maria smiled as she heard her son say ow after being punched by both his mate and the young kit.

"I'm keeping Grace for a week, because your first time is probably going to be like the way you packed this trunk," she said leaning over to look at him, "Completely wrong with no wiggle wrong."

"MOM!" Nick yelled as Judy busted out laughing.

"And don't worry about it hurting, Judy," she said ignoring her son's outburst, "Nicky always was on the 'small' side. If you know what I mean."

"What did I do to deserve this?" he asked as his mate laughed all the harder.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it Nick," Stu said walking past, "But I'm still trying to figure out why Judy was trying to learn about something called a fox knot." Judy stopped laughing instantly and turned bright red as Nick started laughing. "What's so funny about wanting to learn how to tie a knot?" the male bunny asked looking at his son in-law. Maria quickly walked over and whispered something in his ear as her son laughed even harder.

"I really don't think we need to be talking about this in front of a nine year old," Judy said as her father's eyes went wide.

"You're right, we shouldn't," Nick said between laughs.

"And I think we better get going before we cause any more trouble," Maria said looking towards her son, "You ok to drive, Nicky?" Her son held up a single finger before standing up and said, "I should be so long as we stay off that topic."

"What started this anyway?" Stu asked a little puzzled.

"Grandma Maria started picking on dad because he doesn't know how to pack a trunk," Grace answered.

"For the record, I didn't pack that," Nick said looking at his mother, "Luke and some of Judy's brothers did."

"Plus there's probably more suitcases then when you two came here with," Maria said.

"Seven and a chest," Nick said walking over to his mother, "Still trying to figure out how to get everything in evenly."

"I know what you mean, Nicky, now shut up and let me work," she said before she started to rearrange the trunks contents. "So what did you think of Zootopia, Stu?" she asked taking out a few suitcases.

"It's busy, crowded, noisy, and big," Stu said walking over, "But I see why Judy likes it. I know Bonnie loved our tour guide."

"And by loved you mean?" Judy asked looking at her father.

"He means we had the nicest polar bear showing us around," Bonnie said walking up carrying a basket.

"For your tour guide I take it," Nick said seeing the basket.

"I told Mr. Clawson that I would send some homemade jams back with you two for him," Bonnie said placing the basket in the backseat of the car.

"Clawson? As in Mike Clawson, Precinct Three Chief Mike Clawson?" Nick asked sounding a little surprised.

"I take it you know him," Bonnie said looking at him.

"He's my uncle," Grace said smiling, "Well, unofficially at least."

"Now that is a story I would love to hear about," Stu said looking at the young kit.

"She can tell you on our next visit," Maria said stepping aside so some of Judy's brothers could load the chest into the trunk, "We need to get heading for home soon; unless you want to explain to your boss why you're going to be another day."

"Oh we ran into chief Bogo yesterday," Bonnie said looking at her daughter, "We told him about your anniversary gift and he said you're to call him before you leave here."

"That can't be good," Nick said as Judy pulled her phone out.

"Are we in trouble?" Grace asked looking at each of the adults.

"We'll find out soon enough," he said as he watched his mate walk off. She stepped around the corner of her family home and quickly dialed a number before hitting send. She didn't have long to wait when she heard a familiar voice say, "Precinct One."

"Hey Clawhauser, its Judy," she said smiling a little.

"Well I'll be," she heard the cheetah say happily; "I was starting to wonder if Nick had eaten you." _'Not yet,'_ she thought leaning against the house. "Anyway, what can I do for you?" he asked.

"I kind of need to talk to the chief," she said.

"Not a problem, let me patch you through," he stated. She looked over towards the fields and smiled as she saw a couple of her younger sisters playing.

"Chief Bogo here," she heard a gruff voice say yanking her from her thoughts.

"Hey chief, its Officer Wilde," she said looking away, "My parents said I was to call you before we left Bunnyburrow."

"Ah yes," the cape buffalo said over the phone, "I thought you and your other half would like to know the status on the Locksley case."

"No offense sir, but couldn't this wait till we got back?" she asked.

"Not for part of this," he said solemnly, "While the Moriarty's was brought in on contest rigging charges, the Precinct Three tech looked into his computer. Apparently, they were in charge of the largest black market ring on the planet. As it stands, close to a thousand charges are now being brought against them and over four million in stolen art have been recovered from a warehouse owned by the person they took over the ring from; Augustus Morris."

"F-f-four million," she stammered in disbelief.

"And that is just the tip of the iceberg," he stated, "Between him and Morris, we have everyone involved in the deaths of Grace's parents are in custody and will face justice."

"That's good to here, sir," she said.

"Now I expect you two and Grace to be here two days after you get home," he said sounding a little happy, "We have something for her."

"W-will do sure," she said before ending the call. She stood there for a few seconds before walking back over to the others.

"So what did chief buffalo butt have to say?" Nick asked looking at her.

"Chief wants you, me, and Grace in his office two days after we get back," she said calmly.

"Which will be the day we're due back anyway," he said with a sigh, "I guess we better get going then, Fluff." Judy grabbed his tie and pulled him down for a deep kiss and smiled.

"That's Mrs. Fluff to you, Slick," she whispered against his lips before heading to the car.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four: Good To Be Home

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Good To Be Home…

The trip back home was largely uneventful. For the greatest majority of the trip; Nick drove with Maris in the front passenger seat while Judy sat in the back with Grace placing cards. Once back in the city, their first stop was Nick's old home to drop off his mother. After saying their goodbyes, he drove over to Judy's place to get the last of her stuff.

"You know, we could just leave it and get you some new stuff," Nick said as he pulled the cruiser up in front of the building.

"My uniforms are still here, Slick," Judy said before dashing inside.

"How big was mom's place?" Grace asked looking at the apartment building.

"About the size of Bonnie's broom closet," he said before hearing a knock on the driver window. He looked over to see a female fox wearing a police uniform with a familiar vest over it staring at him. "Good day, officer, how can I help you?" he asked smiling.

"License and registration please," the vixen said looking at him.

"If you want my phone number, I'm going to warn you right now, my mate will not be happy in the least about this," he said calmly.

"No, I want your license and registration because you are parked illegally," the vixen said glaring at him, "This spot is reserved for large predators only."

"Actually, it's reserved for vehicles that the larger predators drive," Grace said poking her head out the window, "It says so in article five, subsection e paragraph four of the Zootopia vehicle law."

"The law does not say that," the vixen said looking at the young kit.

"Looking the law up now," he said checking his phone, "And the meter maid is wrong." The vixen glared at him for a few second before she started to smile.

"You're still going to have to move this vehicle because only residents of the Grand Pangolin Arms hotel," she said with a smirk.

"Which my mate was a resident of until today," he said putting his phone away, "She's inside right now packing the last of her stuff and turning in her key."

"Then you won't mind if I wait here with you for her," she said crossing her arms.

"Personally no, but the mammals in the cars your joke-mobile is blocking traffic for will," he replied looking in the review mirror pressing a button on the console. A section of it slid to the right to reveal a CB radio.

"They can wait," she said crossing her arms.

"I was afraid you were going to say that," he said grabbing the mike. Before she could ask another question, he hit the button and said, "Hey Clawhauser, this is Nick, is the chief in?"

"Clawhauser is on break," the voice of the Precinct One Chief said over the mike, "What do you want, Wilde?"

"I have a rookie officer, by the looks of it, that has been blocking traffic with the meter maid mobile while trying to find a way to write me a ticket," Nick replied calmly.

"Are you doing anything that would result in a ticket?" Bogo asked.

"No sir," Nick said looking at the shocked look on the vixen's face, "I am sitting in the designated spot for this cruiser while Judy gets the last of her belongings and turns her key in."

"Have you told her you're a cop yet?" Bogo asked.

"She got into an argument with Grace about the parking laws before I could," he said before the mike was taken from his paws.

"I don't know who you are, but if you keep impersonating the chief of police I will have you arrested. Got it?" the vixen asked before throwing the mike back into the cruiser. "You two, get out of the car, now," she said pulling her radio out, "Dispatch, this is Officer Rayner requesting assistance in detaining possible robbery and kidnapping suspects in front of the Grand Pangolin Arms hotel."

"Oh you're in trouble now," Nick said smiling.

"I said out of the car," she said reaching for her Taser.

"Officer Rayner, this is Chief Bogo," the cape buffalo's voice said over the radio, "You're request has been denied and you are hereby suspended for two days for making a false accusation against another officer. Return to the precinct immediately."

"F-fellow officer?" she said looking at her radio before looking at Nick.

"Officer Nick Wilde," Nick said holding his badge up so she could see it, "And the kit in the backseat is my daughter Grace. It's nice to meet you, Officer Rayner." The vixen gave him a slight wave before walking back to her vehicle. "I almost feel sorry for doing that to her," he said as they watched her drive off.

"Are you going to tell mom about the hidden features?" Grace asked looking at him. He put the mike away and let the panel slid shut before looking at her.

"Once we get home," he said before the passenger door opened. They looked over to see Judy place a box on the seat. "You got everything, Fluff?" he asked carefully moving the box to the back seat.

"After my neighbors gave me a going away argument," Judy said climbing up in her seat, "Did I miss anything?"

"Dad used one of the hidden features in the car to get out of a parking ticket," Grace answered.

"Not surprising about one of the guys we work with trying to do that, but what hidden features?" Judy asked looking at her mate.

"There's a hidden CB radio in the dash," he said before hitting the button to reveal said item, "As well as a set of retractable police lights, armor plated to take a hit from a rhino, stabilizing spikes, nitrous that can make a running cheetah look like moving as fast as Flash, and has an onboard computer that can connect with the main database at Precinct One. Bogo told me not to use the new features unless we're on the clock."

"This thing has all that and Bogo let you take it out of Zootopia?" Judy asked shocked.

"Bogo thought it would be best to keep me safe," Grace said looking in the box, "Was kind of surprising to see a female fox officer."

"There's a new fox officer?" Judy asked as her eyes narrowed slightly.

"She tried to arrest me for kidnapping Grace and possible robbery," he said staring the cruiser, "Used the mike to call Bogo and let him know what was going on and she ended up with a two day suspension for threatening him with impersonating a police officer charges."

"I feel sorry for whoever gets her as a partner," Judy said buckling up.

"Glad I already have a partner," he said carefully pulling out into traffic.

"That makes two of us, Slick," she said looking out a window. They drove in silence for a few minutes until he pulled up to a large apartment building in City Center. "Wait a minute," she whispered as the vehicle came to a stop, "This is…."

"This is home," Grace said smiling.

Nick laughed a little before saying, "Welcome to the Sherwood apartments. As Grace said, this is home. It's a short walk to both the park and Precinct One." After parking the car, they took their luggage up to the ninth floor before heading back down to get the trunk from the car. "Is it me or does this feel a little heavier?" he asked as him and Judy carried the trunk to their new apartment.

"I just wish I knew why it's so heavy," Judy said before they set the trunk on the living room floor.

"Same here, but we need some sort of key to open it," Nick said before flopping on the couch, "And I don't remember seeing a key hole, do you?"

"I saw a spot for where I could put my arrowhead in it," Grace said sitting next to him, "Maybe that is the key."

"We can check after dinner," Judy said as her stomach growled slightly.

"I vote pizza," he said with a slight laugh.

"Not arguing, pizza it is," she said pulling her phone out as she sat on the couch next to her mate.

"My mom had an account at a pizza place on the corner," Grace said looking at Judy, "They deliver and it's really good."

"But how much is it?" Judy asked.

"I'm not sure," Grace said looking at the coffee table, "She would let me order it and they would know what we wanted just by telling them my name."

"I have a feeling someone there knew one of your parents," Nick said getting up.

"Where are you going?" Judy asked looking at him.

"I'm going to go find out about this place while Grace gives you a tour," he said before leaning over and gently kissing his mate's forehead, "Trust me, you'll want her to show you every secret about this place."


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five: Tucker's Pizza

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Tucker's Pizza…

Of all the things that Nick had seen while being a police officer, things was one he never expected. As he walked up to the place his daughter had talked about, it seemed like every other place he had ever seen; minus the revolving door for delivery staff. What was even more surprising was the amount of bunnies that were using it. _'Oh Carrots would love this,'_ he thought watching the constantly moving door. As he walked in via the main entrance, he was surprised to see the amount of officers sitting amongst the tables.

"Hi, welcome to Tucker's Pizza," a white bunny asked walking up to him smiling, "Would you like a table for one, or are you waiting for someone else?" He looked at the waitress and blinked.

"Victoria?" he asked surprised, "Since when do you work here?"

The bunny gave a slight laugh before saying, "Actually, Officer Wilde, I own this place and it's Vicky. I hate the name Victoria."

"Nick, please. But what do you mean you hate your name?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Victoria was a heartless bunny that alienated her own niece because she didn't want to disappoint her grandfather," she replied as her smile disappeared.

"Whereas Vicky?" he asked a little leery.

"Is doing what she loves and trying to make amends," she said as her smiled returned, "If you don't mind me asking, how is Grace?"

"She's safe," he said calmly, "No offense, but I wouldn't have pictured you as a waitress."

"Head chef and hostess if needed," she said holding up a finger, "Anyway, what brings you here tonight, Nick?"

"Originally, I came here to place a carryout order and ask the manager a few questions," he said crossing his arms.

"But since I'm the owner, you'd rather ask me those question while I make, probably, Grace's favorite and whatever you'd like," she said motioning for him to follow her. He followed her back into the kitchen and sat on an empty chair.

"So what does Grace like on her pizza?" he asked watching her.

"Stuffed crust with fruit," she said grabbing a ball of dough, "Her mother opted for crickets and extra cheese."

"You never hated her did you?" he asked.

"Truth is, I loved them both," she said making a pizza, "Laura was my best friend in school. I was actually the one that got her and my brother together." After adding the finishing touches, she placed the pizza in the oven and looked toward a picture on the wall and smiled. "And it was with her help that I was able to open this place," she said before turning to look at him, "Now is there anything else you want before we take a trip down memory lane?"

"The two you stated and a medium carrot pizza for a bunny," he said leaning back in his chair, "And how did she help you?"

"Basically, my grandfather was a tyrant," she started to explain as she began to work on his order, "Up until college, you could do anything you want. After high school, you either did things according to him or lose the "perks" of being related to him. And by perks I mean he pays for college, you get free place to call home, a free car, and a spending account that is replenished once a year. So like the rest of my family, I followed along."

"I take it there's a 'but' coming," he said as she stopped long enough to remove the pizza in the oven.

"That but was Laura," she stated after sending the finished pie off with a waitress, "She didn't have the funds I did, which meant her saving up for college. I decided to lend her a hand by getting a part time job at the same place she was working and give her my paycheck each week."

"Well that was nice of you," he said relaxing a little.

"My grandfather thought the exact same thing when he found out what I was doing," she stated putting his order in the oven, "The only reason he found out was because I made a lunch delivery to the accounting office one day and he saw me. We talked after my shift and after explaining what I was doing; he said he would pay for Laura's tuition to whatever college she wanted to go to, IF I made valedictorian."

"How did she take it when you told her that?" he asked as she started another order.

"While she was grateful for the help, it was then she got me to realize something," she said smiling, "After we cashed our checks for that week, she told me to go buy something with it before giving her the rest of it. So I went to this one store and bought a t-shirt of my favorite character off this one show that had the words 'Tucker did it' on it. After I showed her what I got, she asked how it felt buying something with my own money as opposed to buying it with my grandfather's money.

"It felt incredible. After that, I started buying things with money I earned. I didn't use my grandfather's money to get anything unless I absolutely needed too. By the time graduation hit; I was valedictorian and was relying on what I earned more then what my grandfather gave me."

"And were you able to help her with college?" he asked.

She pulled his order out of the ovens saying, "I was valedictorian to her salutatorian. We pushed each other beyond our limits. With my grandfather's help, we both got into the same school and minored in culinary. He wasn't happy about that."'

"What do you mean?" he asked watching her put the pizzas in boxes.

"This happened after we graduated," she said cutting the pizzas, "After high school, we both signed a contract stating that he will take care of the tuition as long as we stay in school and won't have to pay him back if we graduate. Upon graduating college, he found out about my minor and ordered both of us to pay him back or I'd be cut off from the family.

"Laura decided to put the law degree she achieved to good use and took him to court over it. His lawyer tried to say we both breached the contract because of my minor. But Laura threw it right back in his face pointing out there was nothing in the contract stating that there was nothing that said we couldn't pick a minor if we wanted too. The judge ruled in our favor and I think it was then that my brother met Laura." She closed the lids and stacked them on top of each other before sighing. "About a week later, my grandfather excommunicated my brother for quitting the family business."

"And from what I understand from Chief Clawson, your brother outmaneuvered your grandfather," Nick said.

"That he did," she said sliding the boxes over to him, "My brother created new accounts and transferred all the money in the ones grandfather set up for him into new ones. After that, he and Laura moved into their own place and eventually got married; whereas the family was barred from making contact with him. My grandfather even went so far as trying to blackball my brother from accounting, which didn't work. Now, I think you need to get back before these get cold."

"How much do I owe you?" he asked as they went back into the main area.

"Cops normally get a twenty percent discount," she said smiling, "But because you're taking care of my niece, that means you're family. And I don't charge family so long as they eat here, or show me a recent picture of my niece."

Nick smiled as he sat the boxes on the counter before pulling his phone out and said, "I'll do you one better." He queued up a video and turned his phone so she could see the screen before saying, "This was from a talent contest that happened where we were." He hit play and smiled as he watched the bunnies face. The entire room went silent as the sound of the young kit singing started to play.

His eyes darted around the room briefly as he heard the occasional sniff. Once it was finished, he put his phone away and asked, "Better than a photo?"

"I-I-I didn't know she could sing like that," she said grabbing a napkin and wiping her tears away. Before anyone knew what was happening, she looked over at one of the officers and said, "Call your boss and tell him that for tonight only, any ZPD officers that shows his badge gets a large three-topper on the house."

"Free pizza just for showing you our badge? What brought this on?" the officer asked smiling, "Let along, who was that singing?"

"Yes, you get a free pizza for showing your badge, Officer Snarlov," she said looking at him, "And that was a video of my niece singing."

"You're welcome, fuzzy, and enjoy the pizza," Nick said picking up his order and leaving.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six: Case Number

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Case Number…

Between her and Nick, Judy was normally the one that couldn't wait to get back to work after multiple days off. Yet she was glad she didn't have to get back to the grind until a full day after they had come back. For it gave them a chance to get to know each other better. Granted she was already used to her partner's habits, she was surprised that Grace seemed to have a mixture of each of them. But with each thing Judy learned about the young kit, the more she came to cherish about her.

Come the following day thou; the bunny was finding herself wanting another day with the young kit she had come to love like her own. It was largely for this reason alone that she found herself taking a little longer to get dressed. Normally she would be before her alarm went off and ready to and out the door twenty minutes later. But by the time she was finally ready to go, she was almost half an hour behind her normal schedule. It wasn't until Nick reminded her about how far they were from the precinct now that she started to relax.

After grabbing a quick breakfast, they went down to the parking garage and drove the cruiser over to the precinct motor pool. Once the vehicle was checked in, they took the elevator up to the second floor and walked over to the chief's office in time to see him open the door.

"Officers Wilde, Ms. Locksley," Chief Bogo said letting them in, "I entrust that all of you enjoyed your vacation."

"I had fun," Grace said quietly.

"Honestly sir," Judy said looking at her commanding officer, "I almost wish that we had another day."

All eyes looked at the bunny for a few seconds before Nick asked, "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?"

"Oh, am I not allowed to have fun?" she retorted looking at him.

"You are, but that sounding like something I would say," he said smiling a little.

"Anyway," Bogo said closing the door to his office, "I need to tell the three of you something before rollcall; now sit."

"Is something wrong, Mr. Bogo?" Grace asked as before hopping up on one of the chairs.

"Nothing's wrong, Ms. Locksley," he assured the young kit, "But a few things have happened since you were here last."

"Like what?" Nick asked.

"The first being Augustus Morris," Bogo said sitting behind his desk, "Both him and Moriarty turned on each other and tried to saw they were an unwitting pawn when it came to the Climate Wall incident. It wasn't until Moriarty's wife spoke up that we found out the truth."

"Which was what?" Grace asked taking Judy's paw in hers.

"The Moriarty's were defense attorney's that would take on any case for the right price," he said looking at the young kit, "Over two-thirds of their losses in the court room were against your mother. The husband went into private practice after his last lose against her and started working for Morris."

"And started to take over Morris's empire once he proved himself?" Nick asked.

"Try payment for services rendered," Bogo said looking at the fox, "Moriarty started to fabricate evidence so Morris would win any case brought against him."

"But how does my mom fit into this?" Grace asked puzzled.

The cape buffalo took a deep breathe before calmly saying, "The jump drive that Victoria gave Clawson had a hidden program that would send an email to Laura's computer and would grant her remote access to via her laptop. She took that information and handed it over to the Bar Association before heading to pick you up."

"You mean she was killed for trying to disbar Moriarty and not for a legendary treasure?" Judy asked.

"No, she was killed for starting an inquiry into Moriarty's activities," he said looking at her, "The info she dropped off was the nail in the coffin in Moriarty's career. As far as that legendary treasure goes, Clawson's tech was able to find the original email that mentioned it. According to him, he got rid of it before he was taken into custody and it was worthless."

"He put an old treasure chest as one of the prizes for the talent contest him and his mate were trying to rig," Judy said as her gaze shifted from her boss to her mate, "Do you think that really is the treasure?"

"Where is that chest now?" Bogo asked looking at her.

"It's sitting in our living room unopened," Nick replied with a smile, "Grace entered the contest as a last minute entry and won it with a song that brought a tear to McHorn's eye. I even have the photo to prove it."

"Show me later and let me know what you find," Bogo replied before handing over a piece of paper, "Which leads me to a slightly funnier problem right now. That is from the prosecuting attorney's office wanting Grace to be at each trail and to take the stand."

"Over my dead body," Nick and Judy said together glaring at their boss.

"Which is exactly what her friend, Daniel Anderson said," Bogo said with a slight laugh before holding up a small stack of papers, "This is a no contact order that he filled in her name against the Prosecuting Attorney's office. According to this; they are not to have any contact with Grace of any kind until after sentencing in both cases."

"Thank you Daniel," Nick said with a slight chuckle, "I knew I liked him for a reason."

"Um, Mr. Bogo," Grace said speaking up, "What's going to happen to those two?"

'While Moriarty is trying to get a plea deal from the Prosecuting Attorney, Morris has already pled guilty to your parent's murders," Bogo said looking at her, "Both of them will be going away for the rest of their lives. Now, let's move on to the second reason I asked you three in here today. A class from a local elementary school is coming here today to see how a police station works. Each of the students will be shadowing different officers; it's because of this, a contest was started a month ago to see who got to ride with you two."

"That does not sound like fun to me," Nick murmured.

"Shut it; fox," Bogo said glaring at his officer briefly before continuing, "From what I understand, the class that will be coming in today is the one Grace will be joining as of this Monday. Which is why I'm giving you an option; you can stay and help out, or I can extend your time off so you come back on Grace's first day of class."

"Is there any way I could be paired with my parents?" Grace asked suddenly.

"I'm going to have to agree with her on this one, chief," Nick said with a slight nod towards his daughter, "Granted it's not going to seem far to the other kits."

"But it is a good idea to place a newly adopted kit with her parents in a situation like this," Bogo said simply, "I talked to the class's teacher last night and she actually agreed to place Grace with you two; if you stuck around today."

"Are you sure that's fair to the contest winner, sir?" Judy asked.

"The rules of the contest was that whoever scored an A on an essay about teamwork would shadow you two and not get in trouble," he said looking at her, "The only A in the class went to a lion cub that is currently in the hospital due to a skateboarding injury. While I may not be a doctor, I think a visit from the two he tried so hard to try and shadow might help his recovery."

"We'll be sure to stop by and see who he's doing," Judy said nodding in agreement, "Is there anything else sir?"

"Just one last thing," he said noticing the time on the clock, "And we are going to have to make this quick." He opened a draw in his desk and pulled out a small wrapped package. "Clawhauser let it slip that your birthday was a few weeks ago, Grace," he said handing the package to the young kit, "All the officers from both Precinct One and Three got together to get you this. Sorry it's late."

"They didn't have to," the young kit said quietly before removing the wrapping paper.

"I know. But they wanted too," he said. They watched as Grace removed the last of the paper and opened the box. Inside was what looked like a police badge, but something was different about it. "As of today; Chief Clawson of Precinct Three and I, Chief Bogo of Precinct One, hereby bestow the honorary rank of Detective to Grace Locksley and the official rank of Detective to both Officers Judith and Nicholas Wilde."

"D-D-Detective?" Judy stammered unsure if she heard her boss right, "We're being promoted?"

"Yes, detective," Bogo said handing the two officers new badges, "For your dedication to the civilians and the city of Zootopia. You two deserve this."


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Bad First Day

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

A Bad First Day…

"Do you have any idea how weird this feels, Carrots?" Nick asked as he pulled their cruiser into the parking lot of the school.

"I take it you used to get called to the principal's office a lot," Judy said with a slight laugh.

"From time to time," he said parking the vehicle. They got out of the car and walked inside the local elementary school. "I just hope she's not hurt," he whispered before they entered the principal's office.

"Hi, can I help you two?" a kangaroo said from behind the reception desk.

"We got a call about an incident involving Grace Locksley," Nick said with a slight smile, "We're her parents."

"She's in the principal's office over there," the kangaroo said pointing at a door, "I will let him know you're here."

"Thank you," he said before walking to the office door. The sight that greeted them as they entered was a little surprising. A camel sat behind a large desk with two chairs in front of it. Grace was sitting in the one chair with tears running down her face as she looked down at what looked like her hoodie. The camel looked up towards the door and sighed.

"Thank you for coming," he said looking at them, "I'm the principal here at Zootopia Elementary, Mr. Sandstrom. I take it you two are Grace's parents"

"Yes sir," Judy said with a nod as she went to sit next to her kit.

"I would prefer you not sit next to her right now," Mr. Sandstrom said shifting his gaze towards the bunny, "She will be taken into custody once the police arrive."

"Why is she being arrested?" Nick asked trying to keep his temper.

"She used a net launcher on four other students and is trying to claim that they shredded her hoodie," the camel replied.

"Did they?" Nick asked crossing his arms.

"Whether or not they did is irrelevant," the camel stated glaring at the fox, "I will not have any student terrorizing another for any reason. Especially when we have video evidence she did it."

"Then let's see the full incident," Nick said returning the glare, "And I mean from the time those involved meet to when the net launcher was fired."

"And don't even bother saying you're going to wait until the cops get here," Judy said showing the camel her badge, "Detective Judy Wilde. Now show the full footage, or you will be arrested for obstruction of a police investigation." The camel looked at her surprised before looking back at her mate to find him holding up an identical badge.

"The footage, now," Nick said putting his badge back in his pocket. Mr. Sandstrom nodded before pressing a few keys on his computer. Once the footage was queued up, he turned the monitor and hit play. The video showed what appeared to be a hippo, a zebra, a woodchuck, and a camel walk up to Grace and start talking to her. After a few seconds; the hippo and zebra grabbed the young kit and held her by her arms as the other two mammals proceeded to destroy her hoodie.

"Grace is not going to be arrested by the other officers when they arrive," Judy said as she watched her kit use her net launcher to catch the other four, "The four that started this confrontation will be."

"Oh they won't be the only ones," Nick said hearing a knock on the door, "Come in." Mr. Sandstrom looked up to see a polar bear in a police uniform enter. "Glad you could swing by, Chief Clawson."

"Why did Grace fire her net launcher?" the bear said scowling at the camel.

"She was arresting of the four students that unlawfully restrained her and destroyed private property," Judy said before finally giving her daughter a hug. Grace buried her face into the bunnies shoulder and started crying harder.

"Mr. Sandstrom here was going to have her arrested instead of the other four," Nick said stepping to the side, "One of which I think might be related to him."

"Where are those four students?" Clawson asked with a slight growl.

"T-they're in the gym," Mr. Sandstrom said sinking in his seat.

Clawson walked up and placed his paws on the camel's desk as he looked him in the eyes and said, "Good. Now this is what is going to happen. One of my officers is going to come for the COMPLETE footage of that incident. Until he gets here; you're going to write up a student withdraw form and place it in Grace's file, but you're not going to date it nor will Nick and Judy sign it yet. They're going to take Grace with them and talk about what happened today, and if she wants to stay here. As far as the others are concerned, they will be taken into custody, charged with bullying and destruction of personal property, and I have a feeling they're parents will be hearing from the Wilde's lawyer.

"If I hear that you tried to pull this crap on Grace or any other student again, I will be back to lock you up. Do I make myself clear?"

Mr. Sandstrom swallowed hard before nodding saying, "Yes sir."

"Good," the Precinct Three Chief said before heading towards the door, "Let's go, Wilde's." Judy carefully picked her daughter up and followed the command officer while Nick made certain to pick any pieces of the hoodie up that fell.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Grace," Judy whispered. Grace lifted her head slightly before whispering, "Its ok, mom." As they stepped outside, they saw the four students being loaded into the back of a squad car.

"My tech will reset the net launcher and get it back to her in the morning," Clawson said looking at the small family, "I'll contact Bogo and let him know what's going on. I suggest you three head on home."

"Will do sir," Nick said as his phone started ringing, "As soon as I deal with Bogo." He pressed the accept button and waited a second before saying, "Detective Nick Wilde."

"Why are four of my officers being redirected to the elementary school?" the cape buffalo asked.

"I got this," Clawson said taking the phone from the fox, "Bogo, this is Clawson. I redirected those officers due to a bullying incident at Grace's school. Four students are being taken into custody. She'll be ok with time, but I think it would be a good idea to… I'll let them know. Here's Nick." He handed the phone back before heading over to one of the officer's.

"Yes sir?" Nick asked bringing the phone up to his ear.

"I want you to bring Grace to the Precinct so Officer Trunkaby can get a statement from her," Bogo said calmly, "I can't let either of you take it because you're too close to the situation. Once that's done, I'm placing you two on paid administrative leave for the rest of the week. Figure out what you're going to do."

"I understand, sir. We'll see you in twenty," Nick said before ending the call.

"We have to head to the Precinct, don't we?" Judy asked.

"So Trunkaby can take Grace's statement about what happened," he said putting his phone away, "Then we're going home."

"Can we stop for some ice cream?" Grace asked softly looking at him.

"On the way home," he said as his phone started ringing, "I'll meet you at the car." He pulled his phone out as he Judy walk away and hit the button. "Detective Wilde speaking," he said watching his mate walk away.

"Clawson called and told me what happened," the fox heard Daniel say over the phone, "I'll be at the precinct in fifteen minutes. Do not let Grace talk to anyone about what happened till I get there."

"Not a problem, Daniel," Nick said with a slight smile, "We'll see you there." As he went to put his phone away after ending the call, he noticed that Judy was standing next to the driver's door. He walked over and asked, "What's wrong, Carrots?"

"I'm not sure," she said a little puzzled, "She refuses to let go of her hoodie."

"I think I might know why," he said after a seconds thought, "We need to go see my mom after we get done at the station. I'll explain later and you're driving." He handed her the keys before getting in the backseat with Grace.

"Am I under arrest?" Grace asked looking at her father.

"You're not under arrest, Grace," he said trying to comfort her.

"Then why are we going to the Precinct?" she asked wiping a tear from her eyes.

"Well, when incidents like this happen, we have to take the statement of the victims and any witnesses," he told her, "Your buddy Daniel is going to meet us there so he can be present while you take to Trunkaby."

"Can't I tell you what happened?" she asked.

"Not this time, kiddo," he said brushing her fur back with his paw, "It's against police policy for us to take it because Judy and I are your parents."

"I understand," she said looking down at her hoodie.

"Your mom made that for you; didn't she?" he asked watching her. She slowly nodded before saying, "She said it was so we would always be together."

"And you're not going to lose it, I promise," he said giving her a hug.


	28. Chapter 28: Truth About The Hoodie

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Truth About The Hoodie…

"Oh they're going to pay for this," Maria said as she looked at the remains of the hoodie. Being as careful as possible, she placed it out on the kitchen table and sighed. "Why did they do this, Nicky?" she asked looking at her son.

"They were mad that she got to spend the day with Judy and I when their class visited the Department Friday," he said sitting in a chair, "Think it can be saved?"

"It won't be that hard to mend," Maria said as she slid the pads of her paw over one of the sleeves, "I'm going to have to see what I can do about finding fabric that matches for some of the spots, unless you know if her mother had any left over when she made this." He went to reach for his phone, but stopped as Grace walked into the kitchen.

"Can you fix it, Grandma Maria?" the young kit asked nervously.

"I fix it, Gracie," the vixen assured her grandkit, "But do you know if your mother had any extra fabric; because I may need it to fix some spots."

"I think so," Grace said after a few seconds thought, "I do know she asked Daniel if he could help her get the fabric."

"And I already called him about it," Judy said walking up behind her daughter, "He said he'll be here in five with what he has left of it."

"By five, I hope he means I can make a run to the store to get some more stuff for dinner," Maria said sighing.

"I got it covered," Nick said pulling out his phone. He dialed a number before putting stepping out of the room.

"Thank you for calling Tucker's Pizza. This is Vicky. Can I interest you in today's special?" a familiar voice asked.

"Only if it can feed two foxes, a bunny, your niece, and a tiger delivered," he said calmly.

"It will take a triple batch and I will only charge you for a double," she said with a slight laugh, "So how's it going, Nick?"

"It would be better if Grace's hoodie hadn't been trashed during her first day at school," he said sitting in a chair.

"Text me where you are and I'll be there as soon as I can, and dinner is on me," Vicky said after a few moments of silence before ending the call. He looked at his phone a little surprised before sending his mother's address.

"Is everything ok, Slick?" Judy asked walking up.

"I know I got dinner covered at least," he said looking at her as he put his phone away.

"No offense, but you really do need to learn how to cook," she said with a slight smile.

"Actually, I do know how to cook," he said as they heard a knock on the front door, "I just haven't had the chance to cook for you yet." He walked over and opened the door to find Daniel standing there holding a box.

"Hey Daniel, what's in the box?" Nick asked stepping to the side.

"This is everything I have that might come close to what Laura used," the tiger said entering, "How's Grace?"

"She seems fine, but she doesn't seem like herself," Judy said as she led him into the kitchen.

"I take it you're Mr. Anderson," Maria said looking at the tiger, "I'm Nick's mother, Maria."

"Nice to meet you, Maria," he said setting the box next to the table, "How are you doing, Grace?"

"Been better," the young kit said looking at her hoodie.

"And she'll be even better once she helps me find the right fabric," Maria said with a nod. They all started to go through the box trying to find a match the hoodie's fabric. After about half an hour of looking, Maria excused herself to go answer the door.

"I see a lot of fabric that come close to what was used, but nothing exact," Daniel said rubbing his eyes.

"That's because you have the wrong fabric," a light brown bunny said as she followed Maria into the room while carrying a box and a couple of takeout bags.

"Victoria, what are you doing here?" Daniel asked looking at the new arrival.

"Don't call me Victoria," she said as Nick took the takeout bags, "How bad is it damaged?"

"The actual hood and left arm need to be redone," Nick said placing the bags on the counter.

"Time out for a minute," Judy said as her gaze shifted at each mammal in the room, "What is going on?"

"Carrots, I'd like you to meet Grace's aunt, Vicky," Nick said making the introductions, "Vicky, this is my mate, Judy, and my mom, Maria."

"Sorry we had to meet like this," Vicky said setting the box on the counter.

"Its fine," Judy said watching her, "But what's in the box?"

"What Laura used to make that hoodie," Vicky replied. She reached in and pulled out what looked like denim fabric as Maria asked, "How do you know what she used?"

The bunny placed the fabric on the counter before saying, "Because I helped her make it."

"You did?" Grace asked looking at her aunt.

Vicky slowly looked at her niece before saying, "Your mother wanted to make you something special for your birthday last year but wasn't sure what. One of my sisters that I worked with suggested taking your old baby blanket and use it as lining of a new blanket. But your mother opted to use it as the lining for that hoodie. So I snuck her some stuff that I thought could help."

"What kind of stuff?" the young kit asked a little intrigued.

"Some of your father's old jackets," Vicky said as a tear slid down her cheek, "He loved the way denim felt and normally wore jean jackets. So she used one of his old ones from when he was younger for the outer shell while she used her graduation gown from high school as the inner part with your old baby blanket in between."

"That way she will always have a part of both of them with her," Judy said quietly.

Vicky slowly nodded before saying, "If you don't believe me, check the inside of the right sleeve just below the cuff. You will find three sets of letters embroidered into the lining; LRL, GMM, and GML. They stand for Laura Rebecca Locksley, Grace Marion Locksley, and Gregory Michael Morrison."

"I believe you, Aunt Vicky," Grace said trying not to cry.

'And if she believes you, then so do I," Judy said smiling.

"We both do," Nick said standing next to his mate.

"I think it's a safe bet to say that whoever Victoria was; is dead," Maria said walking up and placing a paw on the brown bunny's shoulder, "And better stay that way. Now, something I want to know is who all is hungry and how much do I owe you, Vicky?"

"I don't charge family," Vicky said looking at the vixen as she smiled, "And I hope you all like lasagna and breadsticks; because I brought enough to feed Clawson and a few other officers from Precinct Three."

"Before you start dishing out dinner, there is something I want to say," Daniel said looking at Grace's aunt, "Regardless if Victoria is gone for good; if I ever hear or find out you said anything from those days again, I'll make you wish you had been excommunicated. Got it?" Before Vicky could barely blink; Maria reached over and smacked the tiger in the back of the head.

"I don't care if you are bigger than me," Maria said glaring at him, "Threaten anyone in my house again and I will have Nick post a video of you on Pawtube of me turning you over my knee and paddling your behind until you can't sit for a month. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," Daniel said with a slight flinch. Maria smacked him again before saying, "First word is right; as well as the first and last letter of the second word. Now try again."

The tiger was quiet for a moment before saying, "Yes mom." Maria smiled as she patted him on the head saying, "Good kitty. Now let's eat, then we can start on the hoodie."

"I didn't know your mom knew how to tame tigers, Slick," Judy said as her and Grace started to snicker, "Makes me wonder what would happen if she met Bogo."

"I don't think I want to know," Nick said with a slight shudder.

"Adrian is pretty nice once you get to know him," Maria said getting some plates down, "Nicky, can you get the silverware?"

"Sure, but who's Adrian?" he asked walking getting some forks.

"Your boss," his mother said nonchalantly.

He looked at his mother slowly and asked, "How do you know his first name?"

"I think it was because he asked her out back at your wedding reception," Grace said looking at him before turning his attention to her grandmother, "How did that go anyway?"


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Parenting

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Parenting…

Nick smiled as he stood in the doorway to Grace's room watching the young kit sleep. He wasn't sure how, but Grace seemed to have a renewal of energy once the damage to her favorite hoodie had been finished. His smile widened slightly before carefully closing the door to her room as not to disturb her. _'I wonder if I had that much energy when I was her age,'_ he thought before walking to the master bedroom. As he reached the doorway to the room he shared with his mate, he stopped as he watched her push her jeans down her legs.

"Well you were right, Carrots," he said leaning against the door frame, "She completely wore herself out."

"I figured as much," she said smiling, "Enjoying the show over there?"

"Only when it's you," he said watching her tail, "I still say you have the cutest tail I've ever seen." She gave a slight wiggle of her tail at the compliment. It was an unspoken rule between the two since they had started dating. He would only call her that in private and nowhere else. If he did, she was allowed to hit him as hard as she wanted for each offense.

"I bet you say that to all the bunnies," she remarked looking back at him. He pushed off from where he was and walked up behind her.

"Just you," he said wrapping his arms around her. She leaned back into his embrace and sighed. "Crazy past couple of weeks, huh?" he asked softly.

"Yeah it has," she said closing her eyes. They stood there in silence for a few moments, neither wanting to break the mood. "Hey Nick," she said placing a paw on his, "Do you think we're doing a good job taking care of Grace?"

"I think so. Why do you ask?" he asked looking down at her. She gave a slight shrug before saying, "I'm just worried if we're going to be this good with our own kits. I mean seriously, you were asked to take care an eight year-old. That is not exactly the same as raising one from birth."

"That makes two of us," he said holding her close, "I mean, my dad left when I was younger than her and I have no clue what I'm doing."

"You're fine, Nick," she assured him, "It's me I'm worried about."

"What are you talking about?" he asked a little surprised at her comment, "You probably helped raised your younger siblings. The only thing I'm worried about is if she takes on your Mega-bunny attitude."

"Mega-bunny?" she asked turning to face him.

"Yeah, Mega-bunny," he said with a slight smile, "You rush headlong into a situation like nothing can hurt or stop you."

"Is that so?" she asked with a slight smile, "If I'm Mega-Bunny, what does that make you; Mr. Incide- Fox?"

"I'm honored you think of me that way, Carrots," he teased.

"Oh no," she said swatting him in the arm, "If anything, you're more like Dash."

"Ah, you wound me Carrots," he said dramatically, "You call me that before you even give me a chance to prove myself."

"Oh you've had more than enough chance to prove it," she said flipping his tie, "Not my fault you haven't yet."

"Blame your father's Taser," he said before they heard a knock on their bedroom door, "Come in." They looked over to see the door open slowly to reveal Grace looking a little shaken up.

"Grace, are you ok?" Nick asked walking over. The young kit slowly shook her head and said, "I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you guys tonight?"

"Sure thing, kiddo," he replied gently picking her up. "Do you remember what the dream was about?" Judy asked a little worried.

"The one that killed my mom went after you two," the young kit said quietly resting her head against Nick's shoulder.

"He's not going to get anywhere near us, Grace," he said gently rubbing her back. "You sure?" she asked looking up at him slightly.

"We're sure, Grace," Judy said walking up and placing a gentle paw on the young kits shoulder, "The only way he would be able to get near you would be to get past Chief Clawson. And do you honestly think that is going to happen?"

"I know I don't," he said with a slight smile, "Seriously, he escapes and I have to run after Mega-bunny over there while she's chasing him."

"Only because you're not fast enough to catch them before me, Dash,"  
Judy said before giving him a quick kiss.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that," he said looking at his mate. "Can I go to Grandma Maria's before you get even, dad?" Grace asked looking at him.

"Maybe tomorrow," he said with a slight chuckle, "It's a little late to give my mom a call just to see if you can spend the night. Right now I think we all need some sleep."

"You sure you can wait another night, Slick?" Judy asked before grabbing her night shirt then heading to the bathroom.

"Can you, you horny bunny?" he retorted watching her leave the room.

"You two are weird," Grace said laying her head back on his shoulder.

"And there's quite a few mammals that would agree with you," he said before gently setting her on the bed.

"Except he's the weird one," Judy said entering the room.

"Says the bunny that fell in love with a fox," he muttered before grabbing his pj's and heading to the bathroom to change.

"What was that?" Judy asked watching him as Grace let out a soft giggle.

"Hey Judy," the young kit said looking at the bunny, "Thank you."

"For what Grace?" the bunny asked turning her attention to her daughter.

"Taking me in," Grace said sitting up, "I know you and Nick didn't have to, and I'm sorry if I'm a burden." Judy placed a single finger on the kits nose stopping her and said, "You're not a burden, so stopping thinking that right now. What you are is someone I am proud to call my daughter."

"That makes two of us, Grace," Nick said walking back into the room.

"But the others," Grace started to say looking towards the fox.

"Are sitting in jail for hurting you," Judy said giving the young kit a hug, "And that is something you don't need to be anymore."

"Judy's right," he said sitting next to them, "Which is why the three of us are going to talk in the morning about whether or not you want to go back to school."

"But I do," Grace said nodding.

"You sure you want to go back?" Judy asked.

Grace looked at her and saying, "I was having fun up until those four trashed my hoodie."

"And you didn't even get to finish the day," he said gently brushing her fur back.

"That too," she said before yawning.

"And that is our que to stop for the night," he said with a slight chuckle.

"You want to go back to your room, or stay here tonight, Grace?" Judy asked.

"I'd rather stay here if you don't mind," the young kit replied.

"Are you sure about that?" Judy asked smiling a little, "Nick has a tendency to snore."

"Whereas Carrots steals the covers, sounds like the mother of all chainsaws, and has a tendency to kick in her sleep," Nick said stretching out on the bed. "And you don't?" she asked looking at him.

"That's fine," Grace said before lying down. Once everyone got settled, Nick reached over and turned the light out.

"Night everyone," Judy said reaching over and taking Nick's paw in hers.

"Night mom, night dad," Grace said as she snuggled down in between the two, "I love you."

"They love you as much as we do, Grace," Nick said smiling. He lightly kissed her forehead before leaning over and kissing his mate. "Goodnight Carrots," he whispered watching her.

"Goodnight, my sexy fox," Judy whispered before falling asleep.

"Could you not while I'm here?" Grace asked yawning.

"Not my fault your mother is a horny bunny," he said with a slight chuckle.


	30. Epilogue: A Treasure Revealed

Epilogue:

A Treasure Revealed…

A strange sense of normalcy settled over the small family in the following months. Thanks to Nick and Judy's help, Grace had started to open up more and gain more confidence. Yet she wasn't the only one affected, for the two detectives had grown even closer together to the point they had become one of the most effective teams in ZPD history. But as the year drew to a close; Nick started to get a strange feeling, like life had one more curve ball to throw at him.

That feeling was quickly dismissed as it hit a week before the holiday break for the local schools, for Grace's class had decided to hold a special parents day. It was because of this, the class was being moved to the gym for the day to accommodate some of the larger parents that had arrived. But something that had been surprising was that each student had been asked to do a genealogy report on their families. This quickly turned into a massive laugh when Nick pointed out the size of Grace's family if she included actual, honorary, and adoptive family members.

The look on the young kits face was enough to bring a smile to his face as he sat on the chest she had won months ago with his mate in the back of the gym watching the student's presentations. It had taken a call to Finnick(Judy was not at all happy about that) but they were finally able to get it open. While a sheer number of jewels that was inside had shocked them all, it was one thing in particular that made it a mandatory part of the young kit's presentation.

There was half an hour before lunch when Grace was asked to take her turn. As the young kit walked to the front of the class, a brown bunny in the front row said, "And welcome to the freak show everyone."

"Stop me if you've heard this one," Grace said before the teacher could say anything, "A little brown bunny that idolized her mother thinks 'I'm going to take over the family business and be an accountant when I get older.' In order to accomplish this, she follows the family traditions that were put in place by her great-grandfather and, with the help of a few of her siblings, helps him torture a mammal at her old school that she called a freak. Only to find out that, whoopsie, the mother of said mammal was the owner of both the building and the 'family business' she was going to take over.

"Once this is made public, she makes no attempt to apologize to the one she bullied and ends up getting arrested because her aunt presses charges against her; double whoopsie. And whoopsie number three; said grandparent the bunny idolized is given life in prison for murdering his own son. Who just so happens to be the father of the one the bunny bullied." The entire place was silent as Grace looked at the bunny and quietly said, "I am a Locksley, a Wilde, and a Hopps. There is nothing you can do that will break me, Emily. Now do everyone here a favor and keep your mouth shut for you lower the IQ of the room every time you speak."

Nick nudged his mate as he proudly whispered, "That's our girl." Judy gave a curt nod before they hopped off the chest and carried it to the front of the room.

"Sorry about that everyone," Grace said as her parents set the chest next to her before heading to the back of the room, "I got fed up with the teacher simply saying 'girls' thinking that will make Emily stop. Anyway, my name is Grace Locksley and I have an interesting family. You see, not many mammals have had four parents growing up. I say four because a bunny by the name of Augustus Morris had my actual parents killed. My father, Gregory Morrison, was stabbed in the back by Morris after refusing to go back to his old job at an accounting firm. My mother, Laura Locksley, died in the Climate Wall incident that Morris had put together to get his hands on the Treasure of Locksley.

"But the biggest reason I say I have an interesting family is because it is made up of both honorary and adoptive members as well as blood relation. The only blood relation I have left is the only member of my father's family I clam, and that is his sister Vicky. Adoptive on the other hand consist of my dad, Detective Nick Wilde, and his mate, Detective Judy Wilde; on top of close to over three hundred grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And that is not including honorary family members, which comprise of the police officers of both Precincts' One and Three here in Zootopia.

"But there are two that I am proud to have as part of my family. While I have never met the one member, I was surprised to see that I am related to them." She turned to the chest and opened it. Instead of opening form the side like some do, the one end lifted up to reveal what appeared to be a family tree engraved into the underside of the lid. "I had won this chest in a talent contest in my adoptive mom's home town," the young kit said looking at her class, "We took this to the museum and found out that the engraving on the lid is my family tree.

"According to this, my actual mother was the last recorded descendent of the legendary archer, Robin Hood and Maid Marian." She looked over at her adoptive mother and smiled as the bunny gave a slight nod. "The other member of my family I'm proud of is one I will get to meet in a few months," she said looking at her father, "And the reason for that is because it took up until last month for my dad to get some private time with my mom."

The room was silent for a brief second before they heard a dull thud. All eyes looked over to see Nick lying face first on the floor.

"Is he ok, mom?" Grace asked a little worried. Judy laughed slightly as she shook her head.

"He'll be fine, Grace," the bunny said looking down at her mate, "He just passed out from the news."

End


End file.
